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Focus On Forsyth Tech
A Winter’s Day. Student Government Association President Marysue Antonucci ( Who Goes Here, page 27) was given a photo of an Arkansas barn by a friend. She liked the image
so much that she wanted to make an oil painting of it, but she didn’t yet know a technique for creating the effect of rusted tin. To be able to capture the look of the barn’s roof,
she bought a book on palette knife painting and followed the instructions. This beautiful piece of art is the result.
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The Magazine of Forsyth Technical Community College
Volume 2, Number 3 I Fall 2009
q u a r t e r l y
2 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 3
Forsyth Tech welcomes diversity and is dedicated to meeting the needs of students with disabilities, as
mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. For more information, please contact Michelle Bratton,
Coordinator, Disabilities Services Office, at 336.734.7241 or mbratton@ forsythtech. edu.
Forsyth Tech is proud to be part of the North Carolina Community College
System, with 58 institutions serving more than 800,000 students annually.
North Carolina Community Colleges are creating success in our state by:
• Offering hope for a better future through vocational training and education
• Providing opportunity by making higher education available to all citizens
• Generating jobs by creating a skilled workforce for business and industry
If you think of Forsyth Tech as a place where people learn to repair cars,
clean teeth, program computers, install air conditioning and put out fires
– you’re right. But look just a little deeper and what you will see is a truly
transformative institution.
Tech Quarterly gives us the opportunity to tell the stories of people
for whom Forsyth Tech has provided life- changing encounters and
experiences. In this issue alone, you’ll learn about how the chance to
become a Crime Scene Investigator helped Teresa Ketner overcome a
deadly cancer and go on to excel in her new career. You’ll read about
how instructors in the GED program gave high school dropout Terah
Bevill the confidence she needed not only to go to college, but to
be chosen for a highly selective doctoral program at an Ivy League
university. You’ll be surprised at how a simple screening test and an
even simpler treatment enables hundreds of students every year to
succeed academically and in their work, after years of failure and
disappointment caused by a common, undiagnosed perception problem.
And that’s just the tip of an enormous iceberg. Your community college
deserves your support because it is the catalyst, every year and every
day, for individuals becoming the best that they can be.
Where Hope Springs Eternal
Contents
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From the President I In the Spotlight
You can hardly open a newspaper,
turn on the radio or tune into the
television news these days without
hearing about the prominent role
community colleges are playing in helping America work its
way out of the recession. What has been a relatively low- pro-file
segment of the educational spectrum is now center stage.
We welcome the spotlight, even as we are challenged
by the major surge in enrollment we’re seeing, in both
credit and continuing education programs. All this attention
broadens public understanding of how Forsyth Tech is
uniquely able to serve our community in an economic
downturn: as a cost- efficient and reliable way to embark
on a bachelor’s degree, as the means for those who have
lost their jobs to gain the skills to find new employment,
and as a way for people to create job security for themselves
by adding to their knowledge and value.
And as more people in all stages and walks of life see for
themselves what it’s like to be a student here, there’s a
heightened understanding of what Forsyth Tech has to
offer year in and year out. Just a few examples:
> Personal attention and support. Find out why Teresa
Ketner loves teaching evening courses at Forsyth Tech
as much as she loves her day job as a member of the
Greensboro Police Department’s Forensic Team, in
A Case of Passionate Conviction.
> Top- notch training for in- demand skills. Learn how
community support contributes to our ability to
get programs up and running in the story of how
Dr. Kenneth Sadler provided training facilities
for dental hygienists, in A Generous Partner Puts
the Teeth into a New Program.
> A chance to make a dream come true. Read
Who Goes Here, a profile of artist, grandmother and
student government president Marysue Antonucci.
As our cover story details, Forsyth Tech is growing through
this recession, in responsiveness and in our ability to make the
most of our resources, as well as in enrollment, facilities and
programs of study.
Dr. Gary M. Green
Never in its half century history has
Forsyth Tech had a more crucial role to play
in the lives of our citizens and the vitality of our local economy. And
never have the college’s resources been as stretched as they are in this recession.
Your contribution, in any amount, will enable Forsyth Tech to continue to
bring hope and opportunity to people whose livelihood depends on
more education and new skills.
To become a rainmaker, go to
www. forsythtech. edu/ support.
{ The Honor Roll
{ Alumni Spotlight
{ Cover Story
{ From High School Dropout to Ivy League
{ 2009 Report to the Community
{ Why I Support Forsyth Tech
{ Community Support
{ Bob Greene Hall Expansion
{ Who Works Here
{ Who Goes Here
{ Meet the Star Catchers
{ A Fairway to Share Golf Tournament
{ Take It From Tech
{ Richard Childress Race Car Technology
Honor Roll Honor Roll
4 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
Project Skill- UP
Gets a Leg Up
This past October, the North Carolina
Tobacco Trust Fund Commission made
another contribution to Project Skill- UP,
which provides financial aid to students
enrolled in job training programs at
Forsyth Tech. Sharon Anderson, Dean of
Community and Economic Development
Programs in Forsyth Tech’s Division of
Continuing and Corporate Education, said
that awards of the scholarship funds are
based on need and are provided to people
who are unemployed or seeking to advance
in their jobs. This latest contribution brings
to $ 116,000 the contributions the Tobacco
Trust has made to Forsyth Tech since the
project began in 2006, allowing about 80
people each year to receive funds for short-term
occupational training in courses
ranging from auto body repair to Certified
Nursing Assistant.
A side effect of the nation’s economic crisis
caused a problem at Forsyth Tech this fall, but
ultimately it was resolved successfully. Dual
Enrollment is a program that allows high
school students to take college classes tuition
free at their local community college. A lot of
kids had signed up to take Dual Enrollment
classes at Forsyth Tech this fall, but then the
legislature cut funding for many classes ( only
math, science, vocational and/ or technical
courses were unaffected).
Instead of offering those Dual
Enrollment classes, the state gave
students the chance to take the same
classes through the Learn and Earn
program, in which classes are taken
online. Anticipating such a move on
the part of the legislature, Forsyth
Tech had prepared a document that
detailed all the options available to
students and told them exactly what
to do to get the classes they needed.
There were a few frantic days in the
office of Dr. Susan Phelps, Dean of
Educational Partnerships at Forsyth
Tech, but ultimately the students were
able to take the courses they had requested.
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 5
Give Us a Kiosk
Forsyth Tech students can do a lot of things
online these days. Through a service called
WebAdvisor, they can check their grades, register
for classes and so on. But for students without
a computer, access to WebAdvisor wasn’t always
readily available. Until now, that is. This fall, a
series of kiosks was placed around Main Campus,
all in public spaces, and each kiosk contains
a computer screen and keyboard that provide
instant access to WebAdvisor for any student. It’s
just one more way Forsyth Tech is working to
provide the best student experience possible –
and using technology to do it.
The Constitution
Takes a Bow
Constitution Day was celebrated on the Main
Campus of Forsyth Tech on Sept. 17 with a
reenactment of a continental soldier
encampment, live music and a reading from
the United States Constitution by a town crier.
Retired teachers Wayne and Riely Woosley, who
participate in 18th century reenactments, were
featured, and Dean of Learning Resources Randy
Candelaria performed fiddle music of the era.
Terrence
in the Linux Den
Yet another Forsyth Tech faculty member has
become a published author. Terrence Lillard,
an instructor in the Thomas H. Davis iTEC
Center, spent the summer
co- authoring the CompTIA
Linux+ Certification Study
Guide, which was published
this past October. The study
guide covers everything the
student needs to pass the
Linux+ Certification exam
as well as maintain, trouble-shoot
and install Linux on workstations and
servers. Mr. Lillard developed three chapters
of the study guide and produced all the Linux
How- To Exercise Videos and Linux+ Exam
Study Questions.
Early College x2
Early College of Forsyth, a program that
allows high school students to earn an
associate’s degree tuition free, is entering its
second year on the campus of Forsyth Tech
with a sophomore class of 60 students and
a freshman class of 63 students. Because all
students must enter as freshmen, classes are
entering one at a time, so next year there will
be three classes and the following year all four
will be attending.
Meanwhile, a second Early College, under
the auspices of Forsyth Tech, began this year.
Stokes Early College High School is meeting
at the Northwest Forsyth Center and has a
freshman class of 48 students ( shown above).
That’s One
Attractive
Alan Doub, an adjunct instructor in
Forsyth Tech’s Heavy Equipment and
Transport Technology department,
won a blue ribbon at the 35th Annual
Stokes Stomp Festival on the Dan
in Stokes County in September. Mr.
Doub was awarded Best of Show in the
Antique Vehicle category for his 1953
Ford tractor.
Tractor!
Last August, Vice President of
Continuing Education Sue Marion,
along with other school officials,
participated in a ribbon- cutting
ceremony for REACT, the Regional
Employment and Advancement
Career Training Center, located
above the Employment Security
Commission at 450 W. Hanes Mill
Road in Winston- Salem. The nearly
30,000- square- foot center will offer
advice and resources to unemployed,
underemployed and downsized
workers in the area. Funded by
federal stimulus money and
operated locally by the Northwest
Piedmont Workforce Development
Board, REACT is a collaboration of
several Forsyth County agencies
including Forsyth Tech, the
Employment Security Commission,
Vocational Rehab, Job Corps,
Department of Social Services,
Faith Based Community, Experiment
in Self Reliance, Urban League,
Consumer Credit Counseling and
Goodwill. Forsyth Tech will offer
classes at the new facility under the
state’s “ 12 in 6” jobs training program,
which offers skills courses that can
be completed in six months or less in
a variety of trades, construction and
healthcare categories.
Local Agencies
to
Unemployment Woes
A rise in unemployment has increased
the need for worker training, and
Forsyth Tech is meeting that need.
Winston- Salem Mayor Allen Joines
speaks at the opening of the REACT Center.
As a kid she loved anything that
arrest. And it got worse from there, as each subsequent treatment
left her weaker and in terrible pain. Ultimately, she was rushed to the
emergency room, no longer able to move any part of her body and no
longer feeling any will to live. The events of her life passed through her
mind before she drifted into unconsciousness. And it was after that
near- death experience that she woke up to hear that Forsyth Tech was
offering forensics courses.
They Called Her Mama T
“ Of course I was bald and my immune system was weak, and I
had two more chemotherapy treatments to go, but I wanted to start
forensics right away,” Teresa said. “ Bald, weak and frail, I went over and
talked to Kristie Baity, who was the program director. She encouraged
and supported me. I just couldn’t wait to get started.”
Against her doctor’s advice, she went to classes, sitting in the back
so she would be less likely to pick up any colds or viruses from her
classmates. Most of them were recent high school graduates, and they
were enormously supportive of her.
“ They called me Mama T. They threw me a big party when I got the
chemo port removed from my arm,” Teresa remembers.
Teresa found she had to relearn how to study and prepare for
classes. And she was fearful about her ability, since she had been an
average student in high school.
But love for the subject trumped everything else.
“ I didn’t just want to be an A student. I wanted high honors,” she said.
“ I basically lived in books for two years. It did not come easy to me,
but I loved school and I had fabulous instructors. I couldn’t wait until
the next class. I couldn’t get enough of it.”
As a student, Teresa was president of Sigma Theta Kappa, the
criminal justice fraternity, and a member of Phi Theta Kappa,
the honor society. She interned with the Crime Scene Unit of the
Greensboro Police Department.
In 2002, Teresa graduated with high honors and earned two
associate degrees, one in Criminal Justice and one in Latent Evidence
Technology.
And even before graduation, she heard from a friend about an
opening in the Crime Scene Unit in Greensboro, where she had done
her internship.
Not As Seen on TV
Thousands of young people dream of a career as a Crime
Scene Investigator. When Teresa Ketner applied for a job with the
Greensboro Police Department seven years ago, there were
approximately 200 applicants for the position.
nce again, Teresa Ketner was in the hospital, fighting for her
life. After four days in a semicomatose state, she opened her eyes to see
her family and a good friend standing beside the bed.
“ You’re not going to believe this,” her friend said, “ but Forsyth Tech is
offering forensics classes.”
“ That gave me another reason to win this battle,” Teresa
remembers.
Teresa always knew what she wanted to be when she
grew up, though she didn’t see much hope of actually
achieving it. As a kid she loved playing Clue, working
puzzles and anything that involved gathering evidence to
clear up a mystery. It was not until she was in her mid
30’ s, married with two children, that she decided to go to
college and learn how to apply science to solving crimes.
The problem was that no colleges in the vicinity of her home in
Germanton were teaching forensics. Disappointed, she applied to the
nursing program at Forsyth Tech, thinking that career would encom-pass
her love of science and her strong desire to help people. Before
she had taken her first nursing class, however, she was diagnosed with
ovarian cancer.
“ I was in and out of the hospital and intensive care for the next
year,” she said. Her first chemo treatment threw her into cardiac
O
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teresa ketner’s dream job
A Case of Passionate Conviction
“ I love Forsyth Tech. Anything I can give back
is a blessing beyond words,” she said.
After a brush with her own death, Teresa feels
enormous gratitude for how her life has turned out.
As of January, she will have been free of cancer for
10 years. Last month, she celebrated 25 years of
marriage to her husband, Gray.
“ I couldn’t do any of this without my husband’s
love and support,” she said. “ My main goal is to
encourage other people to follow their dream. If I
can do it, anybody can.”
involved gathering evidence.
Teresa Ketner received Forsyth Tech’s 2009
Distinguished Alumni Award.
Her connection with her alma mater now is stronger
than ever. For the past four years, she has been an
adjunct instructor, teaching one course each semester,
one evening a week. So far, she has taught courses in
Footwear and Tire Impressions, Crime Scene
Processing, and Criminalistics, which is learning
about criminal behavior.
She finds she loves being a teacher as much
as she loves being a CSI.
Alumni Spotlight Alumni Spotlight
All the
Evidence
Points to
“ The decisions criminals make not only change their life forever
but will change their own family’s lives, the victim’s life and the
victim’s family’s lives. Sometimes, these cases change the lives of the
dispatcher, police, CSI, firefighters and EMS workers who respond to
these calls. It can bring down the strongest person,” Teresa said.
“ I want my victims to always know that I put my heart and soul
into every case. I leave no stone unturned. I want my victims’ families
to know that I will be the voice for their loved one. I want the innocent
and guilty to know that I speak for truth and justice. It doesn’t matter
to me who they are, what they do for a living, where they live or what
they believe in.
“ I have often been asked, ‘ how do you handle the things you see
and deal with?’ For me, I know I couldn’t prevent what has happened,
I can’t give them their loved one back. If I allow myself to start think-ing
this is someone’s mom, dad, child, brother or sister; I would be an
emotional wreck. What makes a person who they are is the twinkle
in their eyes, the smile on their face and the love in their heart. Once
they take that last breath, I have to look at it as a body, not someone’s
family member. Don’t get me wrong, I know this is a person who is
loved and will be missed. But if I let my thoughts go in that direction,
there is no way I could do this job. I always try to investigate my cases
and respect the victim in the way I would want someone to investi-gate
a case if that was my loved one.
“ I am very fortunate to work with some of the best investigators I
know,” Teresa said. “ The citizens of Greensboro are in
good hands!”
Being chosen, she said, was “ truly a dream come true.”
Nevertheless, it’s not what you see on TV, as Teresa often
explains to jurors.
“ We can’t solve a crime in 30 minutes. We don’t wear high heels
and drive Hummers. Often, it’s long hours and very stressful,” she said.
For the past five years, Teresa has been a member of the Forensic
Team. They are responsible for processing homicides and other com-plex
death investigations. They must maintain advance training and
discipline in crime scene investigation analysis, chemical processing,
documentation, crime scene reconstruction and laboratory evidence
processing techniques. Needless to say, it’s not a 9- 5 job. She’s on
call 24/ 7 every few weeks, and getting called to a crime scene in the
middle of the night is not an uncommon occurrence.
“ Nothing can prepare you for the sights and smells of a homicide
scene,” she said. “ This is not a career for everybody. It’s got to be a
passion deep in your soul. After seven years, I still cannot believe
what human beings can do to other human beings. I will never
be able to wrap my brain around this. Most crimes evorlve around
drugs, gangs or emotions. It is always so sad to work a case that
involves children. Children are a blessing from God, and we are here
to protect them, not harm them. I often ask
myself how someone could harm an
innocent child or an elderly
person who isn’t
hurting anyone.”
“ We don’t wear high heels and drive Hummers.”
Alumni Spotlight Alumni Spotlight
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Teresa Ketner is no
stranger to hard work.
Growing up on a tobacco farm, she had
little time for extracurricular activities or
hanging out with friends. She and her
brother spent long, hot days getting the
crop in. At 14, she got her first paid job,
working in a drugstore. She used her
wages to save for her first car, a 1974
yellow Vega.
Teresa still doesn’t have much leisure
time. A day at the beach is her favorite
getaway, but it doesn’t happen often
enough. She makes do with a beach
room that she and her husband built
onto their house, where she displays
the seashells she collects.
She also enjoys scrapbooking, target
shooting and quilt making.
And then there are the kids. Laci and
Lucy, twin Nigerian dwarf goats, are
so nice to come home to.
“ They love to snuggle in your lap,”
Teresa said. “ I can sit and watch them
play for hours.”
revolve Cover Story Cover Story
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 11
It’s hard to remember now, but eight years ago
the United States was in a recession. The event
everyone remembers from the fall of 2001 was
the terrorist attacks. But also in the first year
of the new century the economy was dipping,
after a solid decade of expansion.
hat fall, Dr. Gary M. Green was serving
his first months as president of Forsyth
Technical Community College. Here in our
area, the effects of the recession were easy
enough to see: factory closings, layoffs and
outsourcing of jobs to other countries,
particularly in the historically strong textile
and furniture industries.
“ We asked, where will the jobs be now,”
Dr. Green remembers. The answer was
in health care, in biotechnology, in
nanotechnology, which would be embedded
in a wide range of projects. Information
technology was also becoming more
important, and more specialized, in every
industry. And logistics was taking on a
dominant role, as moving and storing
materials and finished products became
a prime area in which American
companies could cut costs to become
more competitive globally.
Forsyth Tech set about creating new degree
programs in all those disciplines, some of
them on a fast track. And the programs
thrived, as people who had been displaced in
the recession enrolled and learned the skills
that would help them find new jobs.
So, at the opening convocation of the
2009- 10 school year, when Dr. Green
talked to Forsyth Tech’s faculty and staff
about growing through recession, he was
thinking of a longer timeline, a larger
horizon than the current economy.
Forsyth Tech’s extended growth spurt
started in the last recession. It began
with educational programs. As the
programs thrived, more facilities were
needed, and growth has taken the form
of added classrooms, labs and shops,
and major new buildings.
As a result of the current recession,
the worst and most prolonged economic
downturn since the Great Depression,
virtually all community colleges have
seen double- digit enrollment increases.
Forsyth Tech’s enrollment in degree
programs grew 16 percent this fall over
last fall, and enrollment in adult literacy
classes and other continuing education
courses is on the rise too.
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Cover Story
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Cover Story
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 13
1 Bob Greene Hall, home of the Nursing and
Allied Health programs on the Main Campus,
began this academic year with 20,000 more
square feet of space, a much needed
expansion for these in- demand programs.
2 Northwest Forsyth Center in King opened in
2008, providing state- of- the- art- training
facilities for the Criminal Justice, Fire
Protection and Emergency Medical Science
programs. Additionally, this center gives
students in Stokes County and the northwest
part of Forsyth a convenient location for
curriculum and continuing education courses.
The Fire Training Center, which is currently
under construction, will be complete in
January 2010, and will feature a burn
building, fire tower and burn pits to support
the training needs of area firefighters.
3 West Campus has been upfitted with air
conditioning to offer students, faculty and
staff a more comfortable environment in
which to work and study. New windows,
which are currently being installed, will
contribute to this campus’ energy efficiency.
4 Mazie S. Woodruff Center in eastern
Winston- Salem, home to Early Childhood
Education, Human Services Technology
and Continuing Education programs, is
in the middle of an 11,000- square- foot
expansion project that will be complete in
time for the 2010 summer semester.
5 Grady P. Swisher Center in Kernersville is also
undergoing an 11,000- square- foot expansion
that will be complete by the summer of 2010.
The expansion will help accommodate
overcrowding in the College Transfer,
Therapeutic Massage, Global Logistics and
Certified Nursing Assistant programs.
6 The Technology Building put a handsome,
contemporary face on the Main Campus
when it opened in 2006. It houses the
Thomas H. Davis iTEC Center, the bookstore
and student activities spaces, as well as
classrooms, labs, and offices.
“ We are committed to
serving all the additional
people we are seeing,
both traditional and
older students. We are
committed to providing
what they need,”
Dr. Green said. “ If the
community college isn’t
there for them, they have
nowhere else to turn.”
bricks and
mortar
In the 21st century, Forsyth Tech’s buildings
and grounds have expanded steadily to meet
the needs of new programs and much larger
enrollment. At a glance, here’s where the
growth in facilities stands:
While most organizations today are strug-gling
with the challenges of contraction,
Forsyth Tech is mustering its ingenuity to
serve a much larger student population with
limited space, staff and budget.
“ We are challenged in our budget,” said
President Gary M. Green.“ We are having
to shift resources to manage the growth in
enrollment.”
Some of the steps taken to handle
the heavy enrollment are these:
Class size limits have been increased, and
more sections of classes have been added.
Faculty members now have more students
to get to know and to encourage, more tests,
papers and projects to grade.
Additional counselors and advisors
could not be hired, and these people, whose
roles are critical in a community college,
are overloaded.
Classroom space is filled. More classes are
now being offered at off- campus locations
throughout Forsyth and Stokes counties.
More online courses have been added to
the hundreds already offered, and most of
these classes are at capacity.
Parking, always a constraint, has had to
go off campus. A shuttle service from nearby
Hanes Mall eased the overload on the Main
Campus in the first weeks of the school year,
but is having to give way to heavy Christmas
shopping traffic at the Mall.
The solutions aren’t perfect, Dr. Green
acknowledges.
“ We are stretched thin in our support
services. Students may have to wait longer for
services like counseling and financial aid,” he
said. “ We are focusing on our core mission.”
What’s encouraging he said, is that people
across the college have stepped up to the plate,
taking on heavier workloads and putting in
more time to make sure that students get
the personal attention that is a hallmark of
Forsyth Tech.
taking it to
the limit
But unlike many other community
colleges, Forsyth Tech has grown
dramatically over the past eight years, and
has been building up its facilities over those
years to meet ongoing and projected growth.
“ We continued to grow where others
declined,” Dr. Green said. “ The growth in this
recession has been dramatic. We’ve done a
better job in the last few years of getting the
message out and marketing.”
Today, much of the focus of people
enrolling at Forsyth Tech is on jobs that can’t
be outsourced to Asia, and work that will
always be essential, recession or not. Some of
those program areas are nursing and allied
health occupations, and business applica-tions
pertaining to health careers, such as
project management. Others are welding,
plumbing, automobile technology and
skilled construction trades.
In this economy, as in previous down-turns,
people turn to community colleges
when they have been laid off, when they are
attempting to hang on to their employment
by upgrading their skills, and when they
aspire to a bachelor’s degree and need to start
their higher education in an affordable way.
And there’s an even more fundamental
shift going on, which becomes amplified in
a recession.
“ We have two
issues,” Dr. Green
said. “ There’s a labor
surplus, with people
losing their jobs.
And there’s a labor
shortage in highly
skilled areas. The
role of the community
college is to provide
the bridge between
those two.”
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Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 15
Alumni Success
Terah Bevill found the
encouragement she needed
at Forsyth Tech.
From High School
Drop- Out to Ivy League
Doctoral Student
I That’s what happened to Terah Bevill. Like many teenagers, she found
high school a struggle, even though her aptitude for academics was excellent.
Her life felt even more chaotic after her family moved to Winston- Salem from
Pennsylvania, and she dropped out of high school at age 17.
Now, 10 years later, Terah is a student in a Ph. D. program at Brown
University. She plans to become a college professor.
Terah doesn’t like looking back to all that was going on in her life when
she dropped out of school, but she remembers that she had the intention of
getting her high school diploma, one way or another.
“ My greatest aspiration was to make over $ 10 an hour and to get an
apartment of my own. Survival was my only aspiration,” she said.
As soon as she was eligible, she enrolled in the adult high school
program at Forsyth Tech, taking evening classes and working at low- paying
jobs during the day. Many of her classmates were struggling with the same
long odds as she was.
“ We started out with 24 people, and at the end of the semester there
were seven of us left. You get to know people, and they drop out. It is very
discouraging to see your comrades falling by the wayside,” Terah said.
What helped her to stick with the program were the instructors.
“ The teachers were from such diverse backgrounds that they seemed
glamorous. They hinted at the possibility of a life beyond what we had,
and they went out of their way to get to know each of us individually.
“ One teacher pulled me aside and said, ‘ You need to go to
college. You have a future.’ ”
Terah got her high school diploma and began to take college
classes at Forsyth Tech, one course per semester, little by little
discovering what her real interests were. She went on to take evening
courses at High Point University. Being in college suited her so well
that she literally couldn’t get enough in night school.
“ I wanted to debate subjects,” she said. “ They have to cram too much
into those few evening hours. I really wanted to go to UNC- Chapel Hill. I
decided to apply to just that one school, and if they didn’t accept me, I would
stay at High Point.”
She was accepted, and she graduated in 2008, planning to go to
graduate school.
“ I took a year off and did a lot of work in the community. Along the way,
a lot of people stepped in to encourage me,” she said. “ I want to do that for
other people.”
During that year, she loaded up her credit cards to apply to 10 highly
competitive graduate programs. At Brown University, she is studying United
States history, with a focus on the social and political upheavals in the South
from the 1950s through the Reagan presidency.
It’s an investment of about $ 300,000 on Brown’s part, she noted,
including annual tuition of approximately $ 50,000 plus living expenses.
Learning that graduate school is often free to the student was a revelation
for Terah. She had assumed it would be beyond her means.
“ As a high school dropout, I always felt the strong possibility of bad
things happening, and all I wanted was the security of knowing I wouldn’t
have to be on the streets. Now I have found my security, and my life is about
bigger stuff than money,” Terah said.
Shortly before heading for Rhode Island and the next chapter in her
life, she took time to express her gratitude to the people who believed
in her and helped her become the first person in her family to go to
college.
“ Forsyth Tech gave me a reason to believe, a reason to hope,”
she said. “ People there told me I was worth something and could
accomplish something. That planted a seed. That laid a foundation
in my mind about what I could become.”
Cover Story
> Emerging Technologies Building, which will be
located in Winston- Salem’s Piedmont Triad
Research Park, is under design by a local
architectural firm and is expected to be
complete by 2013.
> Transportation Technology Center on Patterson
Avenue will become home to Forsyth Tech’s
autobody repair, auto systems technology,
race car technology, heavy equipment and
transport technology, and recreational
vehicle maintenance and technology
programs, once the renovation of the
Pinebrook Shopping Center is completed
in the fall of 2011. Purchased in 2008, this
115,000- square- foot facility will provide
classroom and shop space outfitted with
auto lifts, paint booths and other
technical equipment.
> Career Center Renovation, made possible by
the passage of the 2008 bond referendum,
will add over 300,000 square feet of much
needed classroom space to Forsyth Tech’s
overcrowded and landlocked Main Campus
when it opens in 2013.
> Danbury is being considered as a possible
location for a new Forsyth Tech campus
designed to meet the growing needs of
residents in Stokes County.
on the
horizon
14 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
Forsyth Tech’s Corporate and Continuing
Education ( CCE) division keeps its finger on the
pulse of the workforce and job training needs
of the local community. CCE’s flexibility and
responsiveness is unmatched, thanks to the many
partnerships it has formed with organizations
throughout Forsyth and Stokes counties that
enable needed training programs to be offered
where and when they are needed. Partnerships
with the following organizations help extend
Forsyth Tech’s reach throughout our community:
> Sertoma 4- H Center, located in Westfield in
Stokes County, opened its doors in the
summer of 2009 to Forsyth Tech job
training programs, including carpentry
and welding.
> Regional Employment and Advancement Career
Training ( REACT) Center opened in the
summer of 2009 in the same facility that
houses the state Employment Security
Commission in Winston- Salem. REACT
will provide another level of employment
assistance and job training to area workers,
including the JobsNOW initiative that is
being administered by Forsyth Tech.
> Goodwill Industries on University Parkway
in Winston- Salem provides another satellite
training site for Forsyth Tech, where
individuals can receive job training to
become a data entry specialist, banquet
server, HVAC service technician or
pharmacy assistant.
> Small Business Center, located at the
Winston- Salem Chamber of Commerce
Building, provides free one- on- one
confidential business counseling services
for new and existing businesses to
support small- business development
in our area.
> International Center at the 5th Street Library
in downtown Winston- Salem supports the
unique needs of the local international
community and Forsyth Tech students
through education, guidance
and mediation.
other
locations
2009 Report to the Community
16 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
GROWTH
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 17
One foot in the future is
where Forsyth Tech always
likes to be positioned, and
the past year abundantly
showed this inclination to
be forward looking, forward
thinking, prepared to leap
to the next level.
2009 Report to the Community
times
Signs
o f t h e
and a challenge to prepare for. Since Forsyth Tech is entirely a commuter
college the challenge was not just to accommodate
students in seats, but cars on campus. Before the
2009 fall semester started, the college was prepared
to handle the overflow. All the details had been
worked out to shuttle students to the Main Campus
from a parking lot at nearby Hanes Mall.
ENROLLMENT
A college that puts the emphasis on know- how
should be using state- of- the- art technology in its own Internet
presence, and that was achieved this past year. We launched a
brand- new, user- friendly website, which includes a searchable
course catalog. Adhering to a “ best practice,” we tested this site
with people of all ages and many walks of life – the diversity of
individuals who would be interested in Forsyth Tech’s offerings
– before it went live. At the same time, we launched an intranet,
whereby students, faculty and staff can easily communicate with
each other. Keep up with the news at www. forsythtech. edu.
was the biggest trend,
2009 Report to the Community 2009 Report to the Community
18 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 19
Our People O
Do Us Proud
Keana Walker, a Therapeutic
Massage student, was Co- op Student
of the Year for her work with Hospice
Home of High Point. Her work helped
introduce therapeutic massage as an
effective complementary therapy, and
benefited patients, staff and caregivers.
Longtime faculty member
Alice Sineath, Chair of the
Department of Accounting and
Business Administration, received
the Excellence in Teaching Award.
Kayla Hall and Linda Burnette
were first- and second- place winners
in a partnership between Forsyth Tech
and Truliant Federal Credit Union. The
students were challenged to create an
innovative product or service for the
credit union, and were awarded cash
prizes for their ideas.
Cheri Silverman, Coordinator of
Program Development and Audit in
the Instructional Services Division,
was named Staff Member of the Year.
Teresa Ketner ( see feature story
page 6) received the Distinguished
Alumni Award.
Pauline Morris was honored with the
Hanesbrands Hispanic Leadership award
by the Hispanic League of the Piedmont
Triad. Pauline is the Coordinator of
Community and Workplace ESL in
the Adult Literacy Department.
Sherri Bowen, Executive Assistant
to the President, was reelected to the
ACCT Professional Board Staff Network
Executive Committee.
Alston Pearson, a student in the
Race Car Technology program, was
awarded a $ 1,000 scholarship
established by the family of Brian Pack
in memory of the 34- year- old Bowman
Gray track driver who died in a
motorcycle accident in 2008.
Dr. Gary M. Green was named by
The Business Journal as one of the Pied-mont
Triad’s most influential
people of the year.
This document was paid for and produced by The Foundation of Forsyth Tech, a 501( c)( 3) not- for- profit corporation. No taxpayer funds have been used.
By voting “ YES” for the Educational Facilities
Bonds on Nov. 4, Forsyth County residents have
insured that Forsyth Tech will be able to add
the classroom, shop and laboratory space we will
need in coming years to meet the demands of
our students. The success of the referendum
indicates the value the people of Forsyth County
place upon their community college, and
we sincerely thank you for all your support.
And once again
Forsyth Tech’s recruiting
materials caught the notice of
people well beyond the college’s
two- county footprint. Our 2008
recruitment campaign, includ-ing
billboards, radio and TV
spots, viewbook, and Kaleido-scope,
which was mailed to
all households in Forsyth and
Stokes counties, all came in for
national honors. They made the
cut at both the National Council
for Marketing and Public Rela-tions
and The Communicator
Awards program. All of these
communications were developed
in collaboration with The Bloom
Agency of Winston- Salem.
Public understanding and
supp ort of Forsyth Tech’s need
to grow – even though it would
entail a sma ll tax increas e –
was amp ly confirmed in the
November 2008 election. Th e
educational bond referendum
tha t will enable the college to
take over the property tha t
now houses the public schools’
administrative offices and Career
Center pas ed by a ma rgin of
close to 2: 1. Almost 100,000
voters said yes to the bonds.
From President Obama
to Forsyth Tech graduation speaker State Senator Linda Garrou,
ur Division of Corporate and Continuing
Education responded to the increased
demand for short- term skills training
courses with several initiatives at a range
of locations. One was “ 12 in 6,” a group of
workforce development programs in
12 different career paths, designed
to be completed in six months or
less. Courses are offered in Auto
Body Repair, Carpentry, Electri-cian
Helper, Electrician Lineman,
HVAC Service Tech, Masonry,
Plumbing Helper, Welding, Med-ical
Billing, Medical Terminology
and Coding, Medical Unit Secre-tary,
Nursing Assistant, Phlebotomy
and Pharmacy Assistant. New cert-ification
programs in Administrative
Assistant, Culinary Arts and Advance Manufacturing were
also added.
the enormous need for post- secondary education was
sounded throughout the land. Sen. Garrou praised the
North Carolina Community College
System as one of the best work- training
programs in America and said she
regarded Forsyth Tech as the finest
school in the system. At the commence-ment
exercises on May 7, she said,
“ Now, more than ever, our economy
relies on the specialized programs our community
colleges offer… And now that our state and our country
are facing such challenging times, we can all agree that
if you have specialized skills, your chances for success
are much better.” About 1,000 students received assoc-iate’s
degrees, diplomas and certificates in May.
he college and its
leadership garnered
national attention this year
too. Forsyth Tech was
community colleges
nationally to be selected
to receive a Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation
Grant through the
National Association of
Manufacturers. The grant
will enable Forsyth Tech
to develop a program for
certifying job skills in the
manufacturing arena.
President Gary M. Green
was chosen to serve on
the Educational Council
of the Manufacturing
Institute. He was one of
25 educators from across
the country selected to
help the Institute develop
initiatives to close the skills
gap that is developing as
Baby Boom generation
workers retire, to help
young people and career
changers find careers in
manufacturing, and to
assure that U. S. manufac-turers
can lead the world
in innovation, productivity
and excellence.
As we go to press, we’re looking ahead to
the next school year, when Forsyth Tech will
celebrate a half century of service to the com-munity.
As much as anything, our history is the
story of the changing economy of this region,
and an ever- evolving vision of the future. And
we’re positioned to make that a grand yearlong
series of observances with a task force that is
already at work, and a special 50th anniversary
logo already designed and adopted.
2009 Report to the Community
20 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
has been the naming of programs of study
for heroes associated with those particular
specialties. So now we have the Richard
Childress Race Car Technology program,
the Paul M. Wiles School of Nursing
and the Len B. Preslar, Jr. School of
Allied Health. These are three of our most
distinguished programs, as well as being
among the degree programs that are
always in high demand among students.
It’s a pleasure to have the names of three
individuals who have long been recognized
for their outstanding contributions to their
respective fields associated with three flag-ship
programs: Richard Childress for his
legendary performance in NASCAR, Paul
Wiles for his leadership at Novant Health
and Len Preslar for his visionary guidance
of the growth of Baptist Hospital.
T something
new
for
Forsyth
Tech
this year
of
Total Budgets Dollar Amount
Revenues 55,265,585
Capital 10,120,655
Total Budgets 65,386,240
Forsyth Tech Community College
Revenues & Expenditures
For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009
63%
13%
12%
12%
44%
10%
16%
30%
Revenues Dollar Amount %
State 34,717,985 63%
Tuition 6,685,873 12%
County 6,738,045 12%
Other 7,123,682 13%
Total Operating Revenues 55,265,585 100%
Expenses Dollar Amount %
Instruction 26,591,352 44%
Instructional Support 17,891,732 30%
Physical Plant 9,318,158 16%
Student Services 6,155,277 10%
Total Operating Expenses 59,956,520 100%
2009 Report to the Community
Forsyth Tech Foundation
Revenues & Expenditures
For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009
16%
84%
1%
45%
24%
Revenues
and Other Sources Dollar Amount %
Contributions 1,076,675 84%
Interest Income 197,938 16%
Total Revenues 1,274,612 100%
Expenses Dollar Amount %
Scholarships/ Contributions
to Forsyth Tech 573,312 30%
Supporting Services 856,683 45%
Loss on Investments 461,549 24%
Other Expenses 27,333 1%
Total Expenses 1,918,832 100%
30%
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 21
Forsyth Technical Community
College Board of Trustees
2008- 2009 Membership Roster
Beaufort O. Bailey
Ann Bennett- Phillips
J. Donald deBethizy, Ph. D.
Joyce E. Glass
Gordon B. Hughes
Robert F. Joyce
Andrea D. Kepple
Jeffrey R. McFadden, Chair
R. Alan Proctor
Dewitt E. Rhoades
Kenneth M. Sadler, DDS
Edwin L. Welch, Jr., Vice Chair
Marysue Antonucci,
Ex Officio Member, SGA President
The Foundation of Forsyth Tech
Board Members 2009- 2010
Thomas E. Ingram, President
Haywood Edmundson V, Vice President
Gary M. Green, Ed. D., Secretary
Kenneth W. Jarvis, Treasurer
Kerry L. Avant
David P. Barksdale
Penni P. Bradshaw
Jeffrey P. Brennan
Jeffrey T. Clark
Nancy W. Dunn
Andrew J. Filipowski
Beverly Godfrey
Murray Greason
Paul H. Hammes
David C. Hinton
Gordon B. Hughes
W. Colon Moore
James R. Nanton
Ched W. Neal
Christoph Nostitz
Mehran Ravanpay
Dewitt E. Rhoades
Travis Simpson
William W. Sutton
Robert C. Vaughn, Jr.
Ramon Velez, M. D.
Edwin L. Welch, Jr.
Victor I. Flow, Jr., Director Emeritus
Paul Wiles, Director Emeritus
Sharon B. Covitz, Ph. D., Executive Director
Community Support
S
22 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
So, when Forsyth Technical Community
College decided to start a program to train dental
hygienists and dental assistants, it looked outside
its campus, as it often does, for a partner.
The school would need a dental practice
with space for more than 40 students, chairs for
patients, X- ray machines and equipment for
sterilizing instruments. In other words, the school
needed a partner larger than the average dental
practice, and, as importantly, it needed a partner
interested in helping the community college and
its students. It found that partner on its board of
trustees in Dr. Ken Sadler, a board member since
1992 and the managing partner at Winston-
Salem Dental Care.
“ Someone asked if we would be willing to
host the program in its early years,” Dr. Sadler
said recently.
And the answer was easy.
“ We’ve got a big place.”
Forsyth Tech recruited dental faculty who
could oversee the students’ work. The school also
recruited patients, mostly those without insurance
who appreciated the sliding fee scale and didn’t
mind having students clean their teeth. Winston-
Salem Dental Care provided the rest – exam
rooms, X- ray equipment and equipment
for sterilizing instruments.
“ It was just something we could do,” Dr.
Sadler said. “ We saw it as being good corporate
citizens.”
The program opened in the fall of 2002 with
20 dental assistant students. In 2003, 12 Dental
Hygiene students were added. “ We would not
have been able to start our programs when we
did if Dr. Sadler and his practice had not loaned
us the space,” said Dr. Jannette Whisenhunt, the
Department Chair of Dental Education.
Dr. Sadler had moved to Winston- Salem in
1978 after three years as an Army dentist to take
a job at Winston- Salem Dental Care just as the
practice was getting started. In those days, the R. J.
Reynolds Tobacco Co. owned the practice as part of
its HMO. Sadler and the other dentists in the practice
have owned it since 2000.
Recruiting dental hygienists was always a
challenge. The nearest training program was at
Guilford Tech, and most of those graduates found
jobs in Greensboro and other communities in
Guilford County.
It was clear to Dr. Sadler and other dentists
in town that a local degree program was needed.
The Forsyth Dental Society raised $ 150,000 to help
get the program started, with thanks going to Drs.
Chandler and Rickabaugh. When the school asked
for help, Dr. Sadler didn’t hesitate.
“ To be honest with you, this place is so big and
there’s so much stuff going on another 30 people
wouldn’t be noticed,” Sadler said.
Forsyth Tech only expected to need the bor-rowed
space for the first two years while it renovated
the old bookstore on campus for a clinic. But
construction took longer than expected, and what
began as a two- year agreement lasted for four years.
“ They were very generous in letting us stay
twice as long as we originally planned,”
Dr. Whisenhunt said.
Altogether, about 180 students trained at
Winston- Salem Dental Care. Today, the program
operates on campus in a clinic with space for 45 stu-dents.
Fourteen dental hygiene students enroll now
each year and spend two years earning an associate
degree. The school also trains 20 dental assistant
students each year, and they earn a diploma degree.
Dental assistants are trained to work with dentists,
taking x- rays, assisting the dentist with fillings and
other work.
Sadler said that the dental program relied on
a community partner, much like other programs
Forsyth Tech sets up to train and retrain workers
for the local employers.
“ It’s a pretty agile institution,” he said.
Especially with the right partner.
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 23
etting up a dental clinic can cost more than $ 1 million
– no small feat for a community college.
BDana& rrow Helen
Why I Support Forsyth Tech
Maybe it was the house his carpentry class built out on Shallowford Road, the
one with a sod roof. Or maybe it was his teacher, a man named Odell Grose, and
the chance to use his hands and work outdoors.
Whatever it was, Brad Barrow found his calling at Forsyth Technical
Community College, and now, some 20 years later, his parents are giving thanks
by endowing a scholarship in their son’s name for students in carpentry, plumbing
and other building trades.
“ Brad found his niche is what I would say,” said Helen Barrow. “ He looks
at something, and he visualizes the whole project.”
Helen, a retired elementary school teacher, and Dan Barrow both graduated
from Guilford College and have always valued education. When their daughter
graduated with an MBA from Wake Forest University, they decided to endow a
scholarship there. And then they thought back to how much Forsyth Tech had
meant to their son. Why not start a scholarship there, too, they thought?
“ You don’t hear that much about people establishing scholarships at community
colleges, but I think that’s where a good majority of young people are going,” said
Dan Barrow. “ I just felt that someone needed to support the community colleges.”
Dan Barrow is retired from ExxonMobil Corp., which matched the couple’s
gifts over three years to the Foundation of Forsyth Tech for a total endowment for
the Brad Barrow Scholarship of $ 50,000. The scholarships can be used to pay for
tuition, which runs between $ 1,600 and $ 2,000 for courses in the building trades,
and books. The Barrows know that even that modest tuition keeps many students
from pursuing their dreams.
“ I just don’t think the general public
is as much aware of the needs of the
community colleges as they are of the
needs of the four- year colleges,” Dan Barrow said.
Brad Barrow graduated from West Forsyth High School, where he was senior
class president, and he always loved music, tennis and the outdoors. He enrolled at
Guilford College but after two years realized a life spent indoors with books was not
for him. He studied carpentry and plumbing at Forsyth Tech, and now owns Brad
Barrow Plumbing and General Contracting in Lewisville.
His parents think Brad inherited a gift for building and design from his
grandfather, a noted landscape architect. Forsyth Tech nurtured that talent
in their son, and they hope their gift nurtures others.
Your Gift Creates a Strong College and a Strong Community How You Can
Support Forsyth Tech
Choose your level of support:
Give online: Use your credit card to make a secure donation
at www. forsythtech. edu/ support/ giving- to- forsyth- tech.
Send a check: Make your check payable to Forsyth Tech Foundation. Mail to The
Foundation of Forsyth Tech, 2100 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston- Salem, NC 27103- 5197.
Get more information: Learn about gifts you can make in honor of or in memory
of individuals, matching gifts, charitable trusts and bequests, and gifts of stocks and
property. Call Dr. Sharon B. Covitz, Executive Director, The Foundation of Forsyth Tech,
336.734.7520 or email scovitz@ forsythtech. edu.
Forsyth Technical Community College serves more than 50,000 students
annually in degree, diploma and certificate programs, and continuing education
courses. To make educational opportunities widely available, and to meet the
needs for a well- educated, skilled workforce, Forsyth Tech depends on private
contributions from people like you.
The Foundation of Forsyth Tech, a nonprofit organization, is the fundraising arm
of the College. Your gift to Forsyth Tech through the Foundation will support:
> Scholarships for deserving students
> Technology for classrooms, labs and shops
> Professional development grants for faculty and staff
President’s Club $ 10,000 and up
Pinnacle Club $ 5,000 - $ 9,999
Pacesetter’s Club $ 1,000 - $ 4,999
Directors $ 500 - $ 999
Leaders $ 250 - $ 499
Champions $ 100 - $ 249
Friends Up to $ 99
Greene Hall Expansion Greene Hall Expansion
Bob Greene Hall with
the names of its two
schools unveiled.
Jeffrey McFadden, Chair
of the Forsyth Tech Board
of Trustees, gave credit
to Len Preslar and Paul
Wiles for the exceptional
growth of the Allied Health
and Nursing programs.
“ Because of their leader-ship
and vision,” he said,
“ we have one of the
largest health technology
programs among all the
community colleges in
this state, and we can
be proud of that.”
a vision realized,
two visionary hospital administrators recognized
Who better to honor than two community leaders who guided the support for the building and the expansion of Bob Greene Hall?
The Paul M. Wiles School of Nursing was named for Mr. Wiles ( left), CEO of Novant Health since 1997, and former CEO of Carolina
Medicorp and Forsyth Memorial Hospital. The Len B. Preslar, Jr. School of Allied Health recognizes Mr. Preslar ( right), the recently
retired chief executive of N. C. Baptist Hospital, where he served for 38 years. He is now executive director of the Health Management
Program at Wake Forest University Schools of Business.
President Gary M. Green ( left), pictured here with
Paul Wiles, Len Preslar, former Forsyth Tech President
Bob Greene, and Jeffrey McFadden, noted that Bob
Greene Hall, which opened in 1991, was the result of
a collaboration between N. C. Baptist Hospital, Forsyth
Medical Center, Forsyth County and Forsyth Tech. The
two hospitals have also provided funding for hiring new
faculty and for professional development training.
Healthcare students
will prepare for their
careers in state- of- the- art
classrooms and labs
in the new addition. Paul
Wiles paid tribute to
nurses at the ceremony.
“ I believe nurses go each
day and represent the
finest of the human spirit,��
he said. “ Lives have been
saved because of the ex-cellent
training at Forsyth
Tech,” said Len Preslar.
A big pair of scissors for the ribbon- cutting that marked a major expan-sion
– the addition of 20,000 square feet to Bob Greene Hall, home
of the Nursing and Allied Health programs on the Main Campus. The
official opening on Sept. 24 included a naming ceremony.
Winston- Salem Mayor Allen Joines said,
“ This expansion is welcome news to us
here in the city of Winston- Salem as we
are rebuilding our economy.” Noting the
importance of the medical, biomedical and
biotech industries to the local economy he
said, “ Forsyth Tech plays an extraordinary
role in the rebuilding of our community.
I tout it every day when we’re talking to
potential clients or existing clients.”
24 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 25
Who Works Here
26 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 27
D
And it wasn’t until she was a grandmother
that Marysue got serious about her art and
decided to pursue the academic credentials
associated with being a professional artist. By then
the world was giving her some encouragement.
She sold a portrait of three children that she had
drawn. Her teacher at a summer session at Penland
School of Crafts singled her out as the best student
in the class, and gave her not only an A+ grade but
one of his signed works.
It took three years for Marysue to arrange
her life so that she could start on her path to a
bachelor’s degree in fine arts without too much
stress. That path starts with earning an associate’s
degree in arts and sciences from Forsyth Tech. To
contain expenses and to help her family, Marysue
stays with one of her daughters and three of her
grandchildren.
“ All of us are students,” she said. Her daughter
works two jobs and plans to attend graduate school
in the spring. Her other daughter attends Wayne
Community College in Goldsboro, N. C. Marysue
helps with the grandchildren when they come
home from school and attends Forsyth Tech.
And everyone pitches in on the housework.
Starting college in midlife was scary for
Marysue. “ I remember how out of place I felt at
the beginning. It had been so long, I wasn’t sure
I could do it,” she said.
But she found plenty of support at
Forsyth Tech, and it soon became evident that
her academic abilities were well up to the
challenge. Now, working in painting, drawing
and photography, she feels she is on her way to
being what she is meant to be.
“ I never would have dreamed that this
would be my destiny,” she said. “ I gave up
everything to do this, even my car. I live very
frugally. The talent I have is God- given, and
I realized I can do this.”
r. Lucas D. Shallua
isn’t just an instructor in
and Chairman of the
Biotechnology Department
at Forsyth Tech, he’s also
the person who brought it
to life.
Originally hired in the Life Sciences Department
in 2002, Dr. Shallua soon found himself in a
different role. “ When there was a need to develop
and establish a biotechnology curriculum, I was
asked to take that task,” he recalls. “ That’s what
made me move from teaching general life
sciences to biotechnology- related courses.”
Since that time, he’s seen the program go
through some major growth spurts. “ We started
with five students,” he says, “ and then it grew
to 16, then 35, then 70, and then it went up to
144 students. We were basically doubling every
semester.” Now, while the biotechnology industry
in this area is still growing, the program has
leveled off at 70 to 80 students, and that’s just how
he likes it. “ We purposely want it to be between 70
and 80 students,” he says, “ spread between first
and second year, so that once they graduate they
will be able to be absorbed locally.”
To Dr. Shallua, being able to provide jobs
for his graduates is important, and so is produc-ing
graduates who can do those jobs. “ We are very
proud that employers tell us our students are both
mature and easily trainable,” he says. He adds
that employers often use the term “ plug and play”
to describe Forsyth Tech graduates, meaning they
come into the workforce with the skills they need.
“ If it takes six months to train a four- year college
student, it will take two to three weeks to train our
student,” he says. “ We’ve heard that from many,
many biotech companies where we have placed
our students.”
He understands that the program is demand-driven,
and says it’s a chicken- or- the- egg scenario.
“ Do we create a skilled workforce pool that
attracts the companies, or should the companies
come and attract more students to create a skilled
labor force? We have to balance the two.”
Meanwhile, he says, it’s important to keep
the program responsive to the current needs of
the employers. “ A company says, for instance,
‘ We want to relocate, and we need Forsyth Tech
to give us graduates who are trained in tissue
engineering.’ We should be able to do exactly
that. That is our goal – to have the ability to meet
the demands in the market.”
Of course, that’s Dr. Lucas Shallua the
Chairman of the Biotechnology Department
talking, thinking in terms of the “ big picture.”
For Dr. Lucas Shallua the Biotechnology instructor,
the rewards are a little more personal. “ Seeing
students go from being in textiles or manufactur-ing
to getting a highly skilled job in science, that
is a joy for me,” he says. “ Somebody comes in and
tells you, ‘ I’m an English major.’ Then after two
years, he’s talking of cutting- edge research science,
working at Wake Forest Medical School with
technologies and equipment that most people,
even seasoned scientists, are not working on.
That is very fulfilling.”
“ I speak at universities about the
biotechnology training in America,” he
explains, “ and what training third world
countries can adopt from a first world
country like the United States. I talk
about alternative training that can be
cost effective, such as online training
and distance education, the way to
establish new curriculums that are
demand driven, and things like that.”
These presentations have also led
him to dabble in the hospitality industry.
“ I’m building a resort in Tanzania,” he
says, but adds that it’s not primarily for
tourists – it’s for educators. “ It will cater
to those who want to come as visiting
professors and researchers in Tanzania.
They can have a place to stay, and they
can tour the area.” Whether on the
campus of Forsyth Tech or on a campus
8,000 miles away, Dr. Shallua is always
looking for new ways to spread the word
about biotechnology.
Viral Marketing
Originally from Tanzania, each summer
Dr. Shallua travels back to East Africa,
as well as to Europe, to teach others
about teaching biotechnology.
Marysue Antonucci is
President of the Student
Government Association
at Forsyth Tech.
“ I’ve always helped people. It’s
just something I do,” she said. “ I figured
I might as well run for president since I
was already doing it.”
Besides the community service
and social aspects of involvement in
student government, Marysue says
being president involves critical thinking,
problem solving and team skills – all
valuable in the “ real world” and all
abilities that a mature student can
bring to the position.
Another thing a mature student can
offer is some good advice. “ Younger
students often think that their time will
come when they leave school. They don’t
realize that this is their life,” she said.
“ Students need to communicate with their
teachers and fight for what they want. I tell
them it may be rocky, but don’t give up.”
What inspired a grandmother of six with a
busy life and a commute from Pilot Mountain
to take on this added responsibility?
L ike many gifted people,
Marysue Antonucci grew
up not realizing that she
was an artist. She always
liked to draw and write
poems, but it wasn’t until
she was an adult and a
mother that she took a
couple of art classes,
a watercolor class in
Oklahoma, then later,
an oil painting class at
an art supply store in
Greenville, SC.
“ I fell in love with paintbrushes,” she said.
“ I could sit and paint for eight hours at a time.
It’s a wonderful feeling.”
Chairman,
Biotechnology Department
Student,
President of Student Government Association
Who Goes Here
Feature Story
28 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 29
Lifelong Compensatory Education has long been available for those
with learning difficulties, offering a chance to develop reading, oral
communication, employability and life skills. But Paul thought the program
could do more. “ The curriculum was very fixed,” he recalls. “ We’d bring
them into the classroom and every day we’d talk about, ‘ Is the shirt this size?
Is the iron turned on or turned off?’ And after years and years of that, it’s still
meaningful, but it wasn’t fresh. That’s what got us to step out of bounds a little
bit and start looking at ways to expand the arts- based education.” He saw it as
a way to expand their sense of accomplishment, their sense of pride and their
sense of fitting into the mainstream, he says.
He asked the Forsyth Tech Foundation for a grant and was given $ 1,000.
That got them off to a good start. He then had the idea of having some of the
students perform the song “ I Believe I Can Fly” at the Stokes Stomp, an annual music festival
held in Stokes County. He asked Kris if she thought they could do it, and Kris said yes. Then she
made it happen. “ I give Kris a huge amount of credit,” Paul says, adding that her enthusiasm
and effort are what really drive the program.
The students performed for the first time at the Stokes Stomp in 2006
as The Stokes Opportunity Singers. And that was just the beginning.
Thanks to two $ 10,000 grants from the Lemma M. Apple & Ben R. Apple
Foundation, and the Foundation’s director, Ben Vernon, Paul and Kris have been
able to greatly expand the program since that time. There are now three areas
of focus: the performing arts, the visual arts and arts- based educational trips.
The performing arts area has grown the most. In addition to the Stokes
Opportunity Singers – or The Star Catchers, as the students recently renamed
themselves – the program also has a drumming ensemble and a handbell
choir. But the students do more than make music. A performing arts ensemble,
The SCAMPS, puts on a theater show featuring classic songs and folk tales.
These groups have performed across the state at schools, senior centers, patriotic
celebrations and festivals of all kinds, including one show for over 900 people at
the Adult Basic Skills Conference in Raleigh where, as Paul says,
In the area of the visual arts, the program has used the Apple Foundation grants to buy supplies
and bring in professional artists for lessons in painting, pottery, jewelry making and so on.
The students have had their work shown at the Stokes County Arts Council gallery, and Paul is
currently talking with the city of Walnut Cove about doing a mural on the side of a building in
the town.
The students have also been able to go on many educational trips. In some cases, they
have gone as performers, while in other cases they have gone to see performances, such as their
annual trip to the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival in High Point. But their trips haven’t
There are amazing things
happening at an out- of- the-way
building in Walnut Cove
called The Stokes Opportunity
Center. Hidden talents are
being discovered. New doors
are being opened. And a group
of people who could easily
be overlooked are being
recognized for the unique gifts
they can give the world through
performance and the arts.
Meet
The Star
Catchers
“ They brought the house down.”
T he people are members of the Forsyth Tech Compensatory Education classes that are held
at the Center three days a week. Through the efforts of Paul Kindley, coordinator of Forsyth
Tech’s Stokes County programs, and Kris Jonzcak, the Compensatory Education instructor,
these “ beautifully, uniquely abled” folks ( as Paul and Kris describe them) are finding ways to
express themselves, build self- confidence, develop new skills, see places and things they never
could before and have a whole lot of fun doing it.
Kris Jonzcak
Paul Kindley
Feature Story
~
“ I was here when
Forsyth Tech was first built,”
said Forsyth County Commissioner
Dave Plyler. “ I knew the first
president of Forsyth Tech,
and I know the current
president.”>
Thanks
to the Sponsors
The Title Sponsor of the
event was I. L. Long
Construction Co., and
the Honorary Chair was the company’s
president, Edwin Welch. Rob Welch,
the company’s vice president, was
on hand and talked about how proud
the company was to support the
Foundation and Forsyth Tech.
Other Tournament Sponsors were:
Club Pro Sponsor – Reynolds American
Amateur Sponsors – Cook Medical; Hanesbrands
Caddy Sponsors – AT& T; Flow Automotive Companies;
NewBridge Bank; Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
Lunch Sponsor – Forsyth Medical Center
Breakfast Sponsor – Wake Forest University Baptist
Medical Center
Team Sponsors – Allman Spry Leggett & Crumpler;
BB& T; DataChambers; First Tennessee Corporate Banking;
Forsyth Tech Student Activities Department;
King Chamber/ City of King/ Stokes County;
Magnolia Construction; Winston- Salem Dental Care
Hole Sponsors – Aladdin Travel & Meeting
Planning; Christoph Nostitz; Constangy, Brooks &
Smith; Marshall B Bass & Associates; Southern
Community Bank & Trust; Wachovia Trust Nonprofit
Contest Sponsors – Cannon & Company;
Extend Energy
Snack Sponsor – American Refreshment
& Supplies, LLC
Drink Sponsors – Coca- Cola Bottling Company
Consolidated; Pepsi Bottling Ventures
“ I am a big fan of
Forsyth Tech and
what they’re doing,”
said WXII news anchor
Cameron Kent. “ I think
Forsyth Tech and
the community
college system are the
lynchpins in the area in terms
of economic recovery.”
>
Overheard on the course:
“ Is there a max
to the number
of Mulligans we
can purchase?”>
Ken Reese of First
Tennessee accidentally
broke a teammate’s club.
“ That’s what
happens when a
right- handed man
uses a left- handed
club,” his friend
commented. >
Kelly Vanhoy’s artistic talent surprised even his mother.
been confined to North Carolina. They have also
been able to go to Philadelphia and Washington,
D. C. And Paul and Kris make sure that all the
students get to do some traveling. “ We try to rotate
it around so that everyone who’s capable of
going gets to go on a trip,” Paul says. “ We also
do some other local activities for people with lesser
mobility, like going to the symphony. We try to
mix it up and make sure everyone gets to go to
a lot of different things.”
And what has all this meant for the students?
Gail Davenport, the mother of student Kelly
Vanhoy, explains it this way: “ I like to say that it
opens doors. Not so everybody’s light can shine in,
but it’s opened the door so Kelly’s light can shine
out. I didn’t know Kelly was an artist. Now I do.
He has talents that this program has allowed him
the freedom to express. For him to actually do an
art piece, it astounded me. And if it hadn’t been
for this program, it would never have happened.”
Kris has seen the same thing happen with
other students. In discussing a painting by a
student named James Joyce, she describes how it
opened up a new side of him. “ James is autistic,”
she says, “ and everything he does is very linear,
very exact. But when we did this art show, he was
able to be creative with his art piece and have
some curves in it, and some designs that he had
never done before.”
For Paul, seeing the students become the
center of attention is the best reward, especially
after a live performance. “ At the end of our shows,
we always ask people in the audience to come up for
a hug or a handshake, and the students really are
superstars at that moment. People gather around
the stage, and we have them come down and work
them through a reception line. It’s really amazing.”
That feeling of self- worth is something Kris tries
to impart to all the students. “ I try to find something
for everyone,” she says, “ because everyone cannot
be in the play, and everyone can’t do a painting
like James or Kelly, but even Roland, who is low
functioning, painted a rock and put a sign on it.
So that’s the strength of the program, that everyone
is able to do something and feel successful.”
And, as we said, they have a whole lot of fun
Yes, there are amazing things happening in that
out- of- the- way building in Walnut Cove. Songs are being sung.
Smiles are being created. And every day, in very real ways,
lives are being changed.
30 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
“ It’s wonderful.
It’s wonderful.”
A video about the program called
“ The Star Catchers” is now on
YouTube. To see it, simply go to
www. youtube. com and search for
“ star catchers stokes county.” It only
takes about six minutes to watch, but
it’s something you’ll never forget. And
when you see what these dedicated
Forsyth Tech folks have accomplished,
we think you’ll agree with Kelly’s
mother, Gail, who simply said,
“ It’s wonderful. It’s wonderful.”
doing it. Walk into their classroom on any given
day and you might find the students working on
a mural, singing a song or, very likely, dancing.
“ They love to dance,” Kris says, and they’re pretty
good at it. Whether it’s old favorites like the
hokeypokey or the Cupid shuffle, or something they’re
learning for the first time, you can see the joy on
their faces as they move and groove to the music.”
Yes, there are amazing things happening
in that out- of- the- way building in Walnut Cove.
Songs are being sung. Smiles are being created.
And every day, in very real ways, lives are
being changed.
Painting has allowed James Joyce to express himself in new ways. The hokeypokey is a favorite dance that gets
everybody moving!
Forsyth Tech Foundation
The 10th Annual Forsyth Tech Foundation Golf Tournament was held October 7, 2009, at Bermuda Run West Golf Club near
Clemmons. It was a beautiful day for golf, and the tournament and concurrent online auction raised over $ 38,000 to support the college.
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 31
Feature Story
Ronnie, what is the Irlen Syndrome?
The light reflecting off of white paper is a combination of all colors of
the spectrum. When your brain is interpreting, some of the colors travel
at the wrong speed. That causes the words to move, to rise off the page and
look blurred.
How do the overlays work? It seems so simple.
It is. That’s why it amazes me that it’s not more widespread. When you put
color over the page, everything is getting to the brain at the same time.
How many students at Forsyth Tech are affected?
We prescreen all of the 4,000 GED and Adult High School candidates with
a reading strategies questionnaire. We do a full screening of students who
score high for Irlen on the questionnaire. In 2008, we screened 2,177
and 93 percent needed the overlay. In 2009, it’s 97 percent. In the regular
credit programs, about 15 percent have the syndrome. In the adult literacy
program, it’s about 45 percent. That makes sense. We’re working with
highschool dropouts in that program, and they dropped out for a reason.
Can you show me an example of a student’s test scores before treatment?
This student is college level in math but his reading is at a sixth- grade
level. That’s because in math he’s reading very short sentences. He only
has to stabilize one or two lines. But when he’s doing a whole page, and
the words are moving and jumping off the page, and he has to keep
rereading, he’s putting so much energy into stabilizing – that’s when he
loses the comprehension.
Does treatment help all of your students who have trouble reading?
For some of them, it’s a piece of the puzzle. It’s not the whole story. But for
some, it’s the whole story.
Tell me about some of your success stories.
I had one student who tried for 10 years to get his GED. He worked at Sara
Lee. He was always within a couple of points of passing. After a couple of
years, I asked if we’d ever screened him. Do the words move? ‘ Yes’, he said.
Do they jump off the page? ‘ Yes’, he said. He always said, ‘ if only I had more
time for the test’ – but he never described these symptoms. The next day, he
Take It From Tech
32 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
Take It From Tech
I
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 33
Irlen Syndrome
Makes It Hard to Pin
Down the Words
took the test with the overlays, and he finished and passed. He came in
that day knowing he was about to be downsized. There was a supervisor’s
job open, but he needed his GED. I could download his scores right away,
and he got his GED. That afternoon he called me. He got the supervisor’s job.
Any other success stories that stick with you?
I remember one young woman. She had two little kids, and her husband
had died. She was in her 20s. And her family didn’t believe she could do
this, but she wanted to for her husband and her children, and she did.
The Forsyth Tech Foundation provides funding for the overlays and
part- time people to screen your students. Is it worth the cost?
Absolutely. Some of these people would not get a GED without it. Out
of 400 to 500 people getting a GED each year, about a third are using
overlays. If you’re a student who has this, and the words are moving
around on the page, and you’re not making progress, you’re going to
drop out. So, I think it really helps with our retention.
Why is it so important to your students to get treatment for their
reading problems?
A lot of them can’t find a job without a GED, especially in today’s
economy. People who worked at Reynolds and Sara Lee, they worked
there 20, 25 years when you didn’t need a high school diploma, but in
today’s job market, that’s a minimum.
n 2000, Ronnie Valenti, the coordinator
of adult literacy at Forsyth Technical
Community College, began testing
students for a little- known perceptual
disability that makes words dance on
the page. Now, nearly 10 years later, she
believes that diagnosis and treatment for
Irlen Syndrome has helped thousands
of students pass their GED and go on to
pursue college work and successful careers.
The syndrome, often unchecked until students find their way to Ronnie’s
literacy program, interferes with the way the brain interprets black print
against a white page. The treatment is simple – a colorful $ 3 plastic sheet
placed over the printed page corrects the messages received by the brain.
Suddenly the blurred and bouncing letters are still, and the student can read
without distraction. Tech Quarterly spent a morning with Ronnie and her
students. Here’s what we learned.
coursework in auto mechanics and body work in January: “ All it takes is a
simple color to ease the pain. I figure if they
had this back in high school, everything would
have been better.”
Johnny Peak, 34, uses a turquoise overlay as he works toward his GED so that he can start
Ronnie Valenti
It’s clear from the way you work with students that you love your work.
Tell me why it means so much to you.
I would do this as a volunteer. It is so worthwhile to really be
able to help people move on. A lot of students are physically
transformed after they get that GED. I really see a change. I just
think it gives them confidence. I have found if you teach them to
believe in themselves, then it works.
Why isn’t the syndrome more widely known?
In the beginning, there wasn’t a lot of research. But now, there’s
a lot of research to back up the treatment. I see the results, and
I know it works.
You’ve studied the test scores from your students and students at other
community colleges in North Carolina. What have you learned?
The average increase is three grade levels, just by stabilizing what
they see. That’s the thing with these students. It helps them really
move on with their lives.
I understand that you have been busy spreading the word to other
community colleges across the state by speaking at workshops and
conferences.
We were the first community college to do this. Every
opportunity we have, we give presentations at adult literacy
conferences. Now it’s 50 out of 58 colleges that have someone
screening. It’s wonderful.
Can Irlen be diagnosed and treated in school- age children?
Usually you can detect this in third grade. We always ask our
students, do you have children and do your children have
trouble reading? They say that 33 percent of people with ADHD
have it, and 40 percent of people with learning disabilities.
One girl came in, she was failing fourth grade. She needed the
overlays. In fifth grade, she was an honor student, and she did a
science project on Irlen.
Race Car Technology
Students in Richard Childress Race Car
Technology at Forsyth Tech are trained
to work on every type of racing vehicle –
NASCAR, American Le Mans, NHRA, SCCA, P2
and more. Course work includes racing engine
assembly, racing engine preparation, chassis
fabrication, sheet metal fabrication, blueprint
reading, welding, race car setup, record keeping
of race car performance and other topics related
to race car technology.
City and county officials, members of the
Forsyth Tech Board of Trustees, and well over
100 students and faculty attended the
ceremony. The speakers included Board of
Trustees member Joyce Glass, who called the
occasion “ a milestone in Forsyth Tech history.”
Dave Plyler, chairman of the Forsyth County
Board of Commissioners, also spoke, and
praised Mr. Childress’ generosity. “ Richard
Childress doesn’t just take and keep for himself,”
Mr. Plyler said. “ He shares with the community.
That’s why we’re here today.”
In his remarks, Mr. Childress said that he was
honored to be associated with Forsyth Tech.
“ The instructors, many
of whom I have known
for years, bring real- world
knowledge and experience
to the program, which only
makes the students’ expe-rience
that much better.”
In closing, Mr. Childress advised
the students in attendance,
“ Hard work and a dream
will get you where you
want to be, so keep up
with your dreams.”
34 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 35
n October 27, a ceremony was held to officially
name the Richard Childress Race Car Technology
Program at Forsyth Tech. Mr. Childress, who grew up in
Winston- Salem, is one of the most successful owners in
NASCAR history, having won six Sprint Cup Series
championships with driver Dale Earnhardt, as well as five
championships in the Nationwide Series and one in the
Truck Series. Over the years, Richard Childress Racing has
accumulated nearly 200 victories in NASCAR competition.
Race Car Technology
The Forsyth Tech
Car of Tomorrow
The event also included the unveiling
of the Forsyth Tech Car of Tomorrow,
a NASCAR show car that will feature the
Richard Childress Race Car Technology
logo and be displayed at local
racetracks and other venues.
The car, built from the ground
up by Forsyth Tech students,
was cited by Mr. Childress
as an example of the quality
of the instruction available at
Forsyth Tech. “ If you look at
the workmanship, the kinds of
employees that can put out this
quality of work are what all of
the race teams, not just RCR,
are looking for,” he said. “ You
should be proud of it. I’m proud
to have my name on it.”
Through the Richard Childress
Race Car Technology Program,
Forsyth Tech currently offers
the only Associate of Applied
Science ( AAS) degree in Race
Car Technology available in
the North Carolina Community
College system.

Focus On Forsyth Tech
A Winter’s Day. Student Government Association President Marysue Antonucci ( Who Goes Here, page 27) was given a photo of an Arkansas barn by a friend. She liked the image
so much that she wanted to make an oil painting of it, but she didn’t yet know a technique for creating the effect of rusted tin. To be able to capture the look of the barn’s roof,
she bought a book on palette knife painting and followed the instructions. This beautiful piece of art is the result.
2100 Silas Creek Parkway
Winston- Salem, NC 27103- 5197
46,000 copies of this document were printed at a cost of $ 0.61 per copy.
Non Profit
Organization
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PAID
Greensboro, NC
Permit # 1068
The Magazine of Forsyth Technical Community College
Volume 2, Number 3 I Fall 2009
q u a r t e r l y
2 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 3
Forsyth Tech welcomes diversity and is dedicated to meeting the needs of students with disabilities, as
mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. For more information, please contact Michelle Bratton,
Coordinator, Disabilities Services Office, at 336.734.7241 or mbratton@ forsythtech. edu.
Forsyth Tech is proud to be part of the North Carolina Community College
System, with 58 institutions serving more than 800,000 students annually.
North Carolina Community Colleges are creating success in our state by:
• Offering hope for a better future through vocational training and education
• Providing opportunity by making higher education available to all citizens
• Generating jobs by creating a skilled workforce for business and industry
If you think of Forsyth Tech as a place where people learn to repair cars,
clean teeth, program computers, install air conditioning and put out fires
– you’re right. But look just a little deeper and what you will see is a truly
transformative institution.
Tech Quarterly gives us the opportunity to tell the stories of people
for whom Forsyth Tech has provided life- changing encounters and
experiences. In this issue alone, you’ll learn about how the chance to
become a Crime Scene Investigator helped Teresa Ketner overcome a
deadly cancer and go on to excel in her new career. You’ll read about
how instructors in the GED program gave high school dropout Terah
Bevill the confidence she needed not only to go to college, but to
be chosen for a highly selective doctoral program at an Ivy League
university. You’ll be surprised at how a simple screening test and an
even simpler treatment enables hundreds of students every year to
succeed academically and in their work, after years of failure and
disappointment caused by a common, undiagnosed perception problem.
And that’s just the tip of an enormous iceberg. Your community college
deserves your support because it is the catalyst, every year and every
day, for individuals becoming the best that they can be.
Where Hope Springs Eternal
Contents
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From the President I In the Spotlight
You can hardly open a newspaper,
turn on the radio or tune into the
television news these days without
hearing about the prominent role
community colleges are playing in helping America work its
way out of the recession. What has been a relatively low- pro-file
segment of the educational spectrum is now center stage.
We welcome the spotlight, even as we are challenged
by the major surge in enrollment we’re seeing, in both
credit and continuing education programs. All this attention
broadens public understanding of how Forsyth Tech is
uniquely able to serve our community in an economic
downturn: as a cost- efficient and reliable way to embark
on a bachelor’s degree, as the means for those who have
lost their jobs to gain the skills to find new employment,
and as a way for people to create job security for themselves
by adding to their knowledge and value.
And as more people in all stages and walks of life see for
themselves what it’s like to be a student here, there’s a
heightened understanding of what Forsyth Tech has to
offer year in and year out. Just a few examples:
> Personal attention and support. Find out why Teresa
Ketner loves teaching evening courses at Forsyth Tech
as much as she loves her day job as a member of the
Greensboro Police Department’s Forensic Team, in
A Case of Passionate Conviction.
> Top- notch training for in- demand skills. Learn how
community support contributes to our ability to
get programs up and running in the story of how
Dr. Kenneth Sadler provided training facilities
for dental hygienists, in A Generous Partner Puts
the Teeth into a New Program.
> A chance to make a dream come true. Read
Who Goes Here, a profile of artist, grandmother and
student government president Marysue Antonucci.
As our cover story details, Forsyth Tech is growing through
this recession, in responsiveness and in our ability to make the
most of our resources, as well as in enrollment, facilities and
programs of study.
Dr. Gary M. Green
Never in its half century history has
Forsyth Tech had a more crucial role to play
in the lives of our citizens and the vitality of our local economy. And
never have the college’s resources been as stretched as they are in this recession.
Your contribution, in any amount, will enable Forsyth Tech to continue to
bring hope and opportunity to people whose livelihood depends on
more education and new skills.
To become a rainmaker, go to
www. forsythtech. edu/ support.
{ The Honor Roll
{ Alumni Spotlight
{ Cover Story
{ From High School Dropout to Ivy League
{ 2009 Report to the Community
{ Why I Support Forsyth Tech
{ Community Support
{ Bob Greene Hall Expansion
{ Who Works Here
{ Who Goes Here
{ Meet the Star Catchers
{ A Fairway to Share Golf Tournament
{ Take It From Tech
{ Richard Childress Race Car Technology
Honor Roll Honor Roll
4 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
Project Skill- UP
Gets a Leg Up
This past October, the North Carolina
Tobacco Trust Fund Commission made
another contribution to Project Skill- UP,
which provides financial aid to students
enrolled in job training programs at
Forsyth Tech. Sharon Anderson, Dean of
Community and Economic Development
Programs in Forsyth Tech’s Division of
Continuing and Corporate Education, said
that awards of the scholarship funds are
based on need and are provided to people
who are unemployed or seeking to advance
in their jobs. This latest contribution brings
to $ 116,000 the contributions the Tobacco
Trust has made to Forsyth Tech since the
project began in 2006, allowing about 80
people each year to receive funds for short-term
occupational training in courses
ranging from auto body repair to Certified
Nursing Assistant.
A side effect of the nation’s economic crisis
caused a problem at Forsyth Tech this fall, but
ultimately it was resolved successfully. Dual
Enrollment is a program that allows high
school students to take college classes tuition
free at their local community college. A lot of
kids had signed up to take Dual Enrollment
classes at Forsyth Tech this fall, but then the
legislature cut funding for many classes ( only
math, science, vocational and/ or technical
courses were unaffected).
Instead of offering those Dual
Enrollment classes, the state gave
students the chance to take the same
classes through the Learn and Earn
program, in which classes are taken
online. Anticipating such a move on
the part of the legislature, Forsyth
Tech had prepared a document that
detailed all the options available to
students and told them exactly what
to do to get the classes they needed.
There were a few frantic days in the
office of Dr. Susan Phelps, Dean of
Educational Partnerships at Forsyth
Tech, but ultimately the students were
able to take the courses they had requested.
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 5
Give Us a Kiosk
Forsyth Tech students can do a lot of things
online these days. Through a service called
WebAdvisor, they can check their grades, register
for classes and so on. But for students without
a computer, access to WebAdvisor wasn’t always
readily available. Until now, that is. This fall, a
series of kiosks was placed around Main Campus,
all in public spaces, and each kiosk contains
a computer screen and keyboard that provide
instant access to WebAdvisor for any student. It’s
just one more way Forsyth Tech is working to
provide the best student experience possible –
and using technology to do it.
The Constitution
Takes a Bow
Constitution Day was celebrated on the Main
Campus of Forsyth Tech on Sept. 17 with a
reenactment of a continental soldier
encampment, live music and a reading from
the United States Constitution by a town crier.
Retired teachers Wayne and Riely Woosley, who
participate in 18th century reenactments, were
featured, and Dean of Learning Resources Randy
Candelaria performed fiddle music of the era.
Terrence
in the Linux Den
Yet another Forsyth Tech faculty member has
become a published author. Terrence Lillard,
an instructor in the Thomas H. Davis iTEC
Center, spent the summer
co- authoring the CompTIA
Linux+ Certification Study
Guide, which was published
this past October. The study
guide covers everything the
student needs to pass the
Linux+ Certification exam
as well as maintain, trouble-shoot
and install Linux on workstations and
servers. Mr. Lillard developed three chapters
of the study guide and produced all the Linux
How- To Exercise Videos and Linux+ Exam
Study Questions.
Early College x2
Early College of Forsyth, a program that
allows high school students to earn an
associate’s degree tuition free, is entering its
second year on the campus of Forsyth Tech
with a sophomore class of 60 students and
a freshman class of 63 students. Because all
students must enter as freshmen, classes are
entering one at a time, so next year there will
be three classes and the following year all four
will be attending.
Meanwhile, a second Early College, under
the auspices of Forsyth Tech, began this year.
Stokes Early College High School is meeting
at the Northwest Forsyth Center and has a
freshman class of 48 students ( shown above).
That’s One
Attractive
Alan Doub, an adjunct instructor in
Forsyth Tech’s Heavy Equipment and
Transport Technology department,
won a blue ribbon at the 35th Annual
Stokes Stomp Festival on the Dan
in Stokes County in September. Mr.
Doub was awarded Best of Show in the
Antique Vehicle category for his 1953
Ford tractor.
Tractor!
Last August, Vice President of
Continuing Education Sue Marion,
along with other school officials,
participated in a ribbon- cutting
ceremony for REACT, the Regional
Employment and Advancement
Career Training Center, located
above the Employment Security
Commission at 450 W. Hanes Mill
Road in Winston- Salem. The nearly
30,000- square- foot center will offer
advice and resources to unemployed,
underemployed and downsized
workers in the area. Funded by
federal stimulus money and
operated locally by the Northwest
Piedmont Workforce Development
Board, REACT is a collaboration of
several Forsyth County agencies
including Forsyth Tech, the
Employment Security Commission,
Vocational Rehab, Job Corps,
Department of Social Services,
Faith Based Community, Experiment
in Self Reliance, Urban League,
Consumer Credit Counseling and
Goodwill. Forsyth Tech will offer
classes at the new facility under the
state’s “ 12 in 6” jobs training program,
which offers skills courses that can
be completed in six months or less in
a variety of trades, construction and
healthcare categories.
Local Agencies
to
Unemployment Woes
A rise in unemployment has increased
the need for worker training, and
Forsyth Tech is meeting that need.
Winston- Salem Mayor Allen Joines
speaks at the opening of the REACT Center.
As a kid she loved anything that
arrest. And it got worse from there, as each subsequent treatment
left her weaker and in terrible pain. Ultimately, she was rushed to the
emergency room, no longer able to move any part of her body and no
longer feeling any will to live. The events of her life passed through her
mind before she drifted into unconsciousness. And it was after that
near- death experience that she woke up to hear that Forsyth Tech was
offering forensics courses.
They Called Her Mama T
“ Of course I was bald and my immune system was weak, and I
had two more chemotherapy treatments to go, but I wanted to start
forensics right away,” Teresa said. “ Bald, weak and frail, I went over and
talked to Kristie Baity, who was the program director. She encouraged
and supported me. I just couldn’t wait to get started.”
Against her doctor’s advice, she went to classes, sitting in the back
so she would be less likely to pick up any colds or viruses from her
classmates. Most of them were recent high school graduates, and they
were enormously supportive of her.
“ They called me Mama T. They threw me a big party when I got the
chemo port removed from my arm,” Teresa remembers.
Teresa found she had to relearn how to study and prepare for
classes. And she was fearful about her ability, since she had been an
average student in high school.
But love for the subject trumped everything else.
“ I didn’t just want to be an A student. I wanted high honors,” she said.
“ I basically lived in books for two years. It did not come easy to me,
but I loved school and I had fabulous instructors. I couldn’t wait until
the next class. I couldn’t get enough of it.”
As a student, Teresa was president of Sigma Theta Kappa, the
criminal justice fraternity, and a member of Phi Theta Kappa,
the honor society. She interned with the Crime Scene Unit of the
Greensboro Police Department.
In 2002, Teresa graduated with high honors and earned two
associate degrees, one in Criminal Justice and one in Latent Evidence
Technology.
And even before graduation, she heard from a friend about an
opening in the Crime Scene Unit in Greensboro, where she had done
her internship.
Not As Seen on TV
Thousands of young people dream of a career as a Crime
Scene Investigator. When Teresa Ketner applied for a job with the
Greensboro Police Department seven years ago, there were
approximately 200 applicants for the position.
nce again, Teresa Ketner was in the hospital, fighting for her
life. After four days in a semicomatose state, she opened her eyes to see
her family and a good friend standing beside the bed.
“ You’re not going to believe this,” her friend said, “ but Forsyth Tech is
offering forensics classes.”
“ That gave me another reason to win this battle,” Teresa
remembers.
Teresa always knew what she wanted to be when she
grew up, though she didn’t see much hope of actually
achieving it. As a kid she loved playing Clue, working
puzzles and anything that involved gathering evidence to
clear up a mystery. It was not until she was in her mid
30’ s, married with two children, that she decided to go to
college and learn how to apply science to solving crimes.
The problem was that no colleges in the vicinity of her home in
Germanton were teaching forensics. Disappointed, she applied to the
nursing program at Forsyth Tech, thinking that career would encom-pass
her love of science and her strong desire to help people. Before
she had taken her first nursing class, however, she was diagnosed with
ovarian cancer.
“ I was in and out of the hospital and intensive care for the next
year,” she said. Her first chemo treatment threw her into cardiac
O
6 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 7
teresa ketner’s dream job
A Case of Passionate Conviction
“ I love Forsyth Tech. Anything I can give back
is a blessing beyond words,” she said.
After a brush with her own death, Teresa feels
enormous gratitude for how her life has turned out.
As of January, she will have been free of cancer for
10 years. Last month, she celebrated 25 years of
marriage to her husband, Gray.
“ I couldn’t do any of this without my husband’s
love and support,” she said. “ My main goal is to
encourage other people to follow their dream. If I
can do it, anybody can.”
involved gathering evidence.
Teresa Ketner received Forsyth Tech’s 2009
Distinguished Alumni Award.
Her connection with her alma mater now is stronger
than ever. For the past four years, she has been an
adjunct instructor, teaching one course each semester,
one evening a week. So far, she has taught courses in
Footwear and Tire Impressions, Crime Scene
Processing, and Criminalistics, which is learning
about criminal behavior.
She finds she loves being a teacher as much
as she loves being a CSI.
Alumni Spotlight Alumni Spotlight
All the
Evidence
Points to
“ The decisions criminals make not only change their life forever
but will change their own family’s lives, the victim’s life and the
victim’s family’s lives. Sometimes, these cases change the lives of the
dispatcher, police, CSI, firefighters and EMS workers who respond to
these calls. It can bring down the strongest person,” Teresa said.
“ I want my victims to always know that I put my heart and soul
into every case. I leave no stone unturned. I want my victims’ families
to know that I will be the voice for their loved one. I want the innocent
and guilty to know that I speak for truth and justice. It doesn’t matter
to me who they are, what they do for a living, where they live or what
they believe in.
“ I have often been asked, ‘ how do you handle the things you see
and deal with?’ For me, I know I couldn’t prevent what has happened,
I can’t give them their loved one back. If I allow myself to start think-ing
this is someone’s mom, dad, child, brother or sister; I would be an
emotional wreck. What makes a person who they are is the twinkle
in their eyes, the smile on their face and the love in their heart. Once
they take that last breath, I have to look at it as a body, not someone’s
family member. Don’t get me wrong, I know this is a person who is
loved and will be missed. But if I let my thoughts go in that direction,
there is no way I could do this job. I always try to investigate my cases
and respect the victim in the way I would want someone to investi-gate
a case if that was my loved one.
“ I am very fortunate to work with some of the best investigators I
know,” Teresa said. “ The citizens of Greensboro are in
good hands!”
Being chosen, she said, was “ truly a dream come true.”
Nevertheless, it’s not what you see on TV, as Teresa often
explains to jurors.
“ We can’t solve a crime in 30 minutes. We don’t wear high heels
and drive Hummers. Often, it’s long hours and very stressful,” she said.
For the past five years, Teresa has been a member of the Forensic
Team. They are responsible for processing homicides and other com-plex
death investigations. They must maintain advance training and
discipline in crime scene investigation analysis, chemical processing,
documentation, crime scene reconstruction and laboratory evidence
processing techniques. Needless to say, it’s not a 9- 5 job. She’s on
call 24/ 7 every few weeks, and getting called to a crime scene in the
middle of the night is not an uncommon occurrence.
“ Nothing can prepare you for the sights and smells of a homicide
scene,” she said. “ This is not a career for everybody. It’s got to be a
passion deep in your soul. After seven years, I still cannot believe
what human beings can do to other human beings. I will never
be able to wrap my brain around this. Most crimes evorlve around
drugs, gangs or emotions. It is always so sad to work a case that
involves children. Children are a blessing from God, and we are here
to protect them, not harm them. I often ask
myself how someone could harm an
innocent child or an elderly
person who isn’t
hurting anyone.”
“ We don’t wear high heels and drive Hummers.”
Alumni Spotlight Alumni Spotlight
8 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 9
Teresa Ketner is no
stranger to hard work.
Growing up on a tobacco farm, she had
little time for extracurricular activities or
hanging out with friends. She and her
brother spent long, hot days getting the
crop in. At 14, she got her first paid job,
working in a drugstore. She used her
wages to save for her first car, a 1974
yellow Vega.
Teresa still doesn’t have much leisure
time. A day at the beach is her favorite
getaway, but it doesn’t happen often
enough. She makes do with a beach
room that she and her husband built
onto their house, where she displays
the seashells she collects.
She also enjoys scrapbooking, target
shooting and quilt making.
And then there are the kids. Laci and
Lucy, twin Nigerian dwarf goats, are
so nice to come home to.
“ They love to snuggle in your lap,”
Teresa said. “ I can sit and watch them
play for hours.”
revolve Cover Story Cover Story
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 11
It’s hard to remember now, but eight years ago
the United States was in a recession. The event
everyone remembers from the fall of 2001 was
the terrorist attacks. But also in the first year
of the new century the economy was dipping,
after a solid decade of expansion.
hat fall, Dr. Gary M. Green was serving
his first months as president of Forsyth
Technical Community College. Here in our
area, the effects of the recession were easy
enough to see: factory closings, layoffs and
outsourcing of jobs to other countries,
particularly in the historically strong textile
and furniture industries.
“ We asked, where will the jobs be now,”
Dr. Green remembers. The answer was
in health care, in biotechnology, in
nanotechnology, which would be embedded
in a wide range of projects. Information
technology was also becoming more
important, and more specialized, in every
industry. And logistics was taking on a
dominant role, as moving and storing
materials and finished products became
a prime area in which American
companies could cut costs to become
more competitive globally.
Forsyth Tech set about creating new degree
programs in all those disciplines, some of
them on a fast track. And the programs
thrived, as people who had been displaced in
the recession enrolled and learned the skills
that would help them find new jobs.
So, at the opening convocation of the
2009- 10 school year, when Dr. Green
talked to Forsyth Tech’s faculty and staff
about growing through recession, he was
thinking of a longer timeline, a larger
horizon than the current economy.
Forsyth Tech’s extended growth spurt
started in the last recession. It began
with educational programs. As the
programs thrived, more facilities were
needed, and growth has taken the form
of added classrooms, labs and shops,
and major new buildings.
As a result of the current recession,
the worst and most prolonged economic
downturn since the Great Depression,
virtually all community colleges have
seen double- digit enrollment increases.
Forsyth Tech’s enrollment in degree
programs grew 16 percent this fall over
last fall, and enrollment in adult literacy
classes and other continuing education
courses is on the rise too.
10 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
T
Cover Story
12 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
Cover Story
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 13
1 Bob Greene Hall, home of the Nursing and
Allied Health programs on the Main Campus,
began this academic year with 20,000 more
square feet of space, a much needed
expansion for these in- demand programs.
2 Northwest Forsyth Center in King opened in
2008, providing state- of- the- art- training
facilities for the Criminal Justice, Fire
Protection and Emergency Medical Science
programs. Additionally, this center gives
students in Stokes County and the northwest
part of Forsyth a convenient location for
curriculum and continuing education courses.
The Fire Training Center, which is currently
under construction, will be complete in
January 2010, and will feature a burn
building, fire tower and burn pits to support
the training needs of area firefighters.
3 West Campus has been upfitted with air
conditioning to offer students, faculty and
staff a more comfortable environment in
which to work and study. New windows,
which are currently being installed, will
contribute to this campus’ energy efficiency.
4 Mazie S. Woodruff Center in eastern
Winston- Salem, home to Early Childhood
Education, Human Services Technology
and Continuing Education programs, is
in the middle of an 11,000- square- foot
expansion project that will be complete in
time for the 2010 summer semester.
5 Grady P. Swisher Center in Kernersville is also
undergoing an 11,000- square- foot expansion
that will be complete by the summer of 2010.
The expansion will help accommodate
overcrowding in the College Transfer,
Therapeutic Massage, Global Logistics and
Certified Nursing Assistant programs.
6 The Technology Building put a handsome,
contemporary face on the Main Campus
when it opened in 2006. It houses the
Thomas H. Davis iTEC Center, the bookstore
and student activities spaces, as well as
classrooms, labs, and offices.
“ We are committed to
serving all the additional
people we are seeing,
both traditional and
older students. We are
committed to providing
what they need,”
Dr. Green said. “ If the
community college isn’t
there for them, they have
nowhere else to turn.”
bricks and
mortar
In the 21st century, Forsyth Tech’s buildings
and grounds have expanded steadily to meet
the needs of new programs and much larger
enrollment. At a glance, here’s where the
growth in facilities stands:
While most organizations today are strug-gling
with the challenges of contraction,
Forsyth Tech is mustering its ingenuity to
serve a much larger student population with
limited space, staff and budget.
“ We are challenged in our budget,” said
President Gary M. Green.“ We are having
to shift resources to manage the growth in
enrollment.”
Some of the steps taken to handle
the heavy enrollment are these:
Class size limits have been increased, and
more sections of classes have been added.
Faculty members now have more students
to get to know and to encourage, more tests,
papers and projects to grade.
Additional counselors and advisors
could not be hired, and these people, whose
roles are critical in a community college,
are overloaded.
Classroom space is filled. More classes are
now being offered at off- campus locations
throughout Forsyth and Stokes counties.
More online courses have been added to
the hundreds already offered, and most of
these classes are at capacity.
Parking, always a constraint, has had to
go off campus. A shuttle service from nearby
Hanes Mall eased the overload on the Main
Campus in the first weeks of the school year,
but is having to give way to heavy Christmas
shopping traffic at the Mall.
The solutions aren’t perfect, Dr. Green
acknowledges.
“ We are stretched thin in our support
services. Students may have to wait longer for
services like counseling and financial aid,” he
said. “ We are focusing on our core mission.”
What’s encouraging he said, is that people
across the college have stepped up to the plate,
taking on heavier workloads and putting in
more time to make sure that students get
the personal attention that is a hallmark of
Forsyth Tech.
taking it to
the limit
But unlike many other community
colleges, Forsyth Tech has grown
dramatically over the past eight years, and
has been building up its facilities over those
years to meet ongoing and projected growth.
“ We continued to grow where others
declined,” Dr. Green said. “ The growth in this
recession has been dramatic. We’ve done a
better job in the last few years of getting the
message out and marketing.”
Today, much of the focus of people
enrolling at Forsyth Tech is on jobs that can’t
be outsourced to Asia, and work that will
always be essential, recession or not. Some of
those program areas are nursing and allied
health occupations, and business applica-tions
pertaining to health careers, such as
project management. Others are welding,
plumbing, automobile technology and
skilled construction trades.
In this economy, as in previous down-turns,
people turn to community colleges
when they have been laid off, when they are
attempting to hang on to their employment
by upgrading their skills, and when they
aspire to a bachelor’s degree and need to start
their higher education in an affordable way.
And there’s an even more fundamental
shift going on, which becomes amplified in
a recession.
“ We have two
issues,” Dr. Green
said. “ There’s a labor
surplus, with people
losing their jobs.
And there’s a labor
shortage in highly
skilled areas. The
role of the community
college is to provide
the bridge between
those two.”
2
6
5
4
3
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Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 15
Alumni Success
Terah Bevill found the
encouragement she needed
at Forsyth Tech.
From High School
Drop- Out to Ivy League
Doctoral Student
I That’s what happened to Terah Bevill. Like many teenagers, she found
high school a struggle, even though her aptitude for academics was excellent.
Her life felt even more chaotic after her family moved to Winston- Salem from
Pennsylvania, and she dropped out of high school at age 17.
Now, 10 years later, Terah is a student in a Ph. D. program at Brown
University. She plans to become a college professor.
Terah doesn’t like looking back to all that was going on in her life when
she dropped out of school, but she remembers that she had the intention of
getting her high school diploma, one way or another.
“ My greatest aspiration was to make over $ 10 an hour and to get an
apartment of my own. Survival was my only aspiration,” she said.
As soon as she was eligible, she enrolled in the adult high school
program at Forsyth Tech, taking evening classes and working at low- paying
jobs during the day. Many of her classmates were struggling with the same
long odds as she was.
“ We started out with 24 people, and at the end of the semester there
were seven of us left. You get to know people, and they drop out. It is very
discouraging to see your comrades falling by the wayside,” Terah said.
What helped her to stick with the program were the instructors.
“ The teachers were from such diverse backgrounds that they seemed
glamorous. They hinted at the possibility of a life beyond what we had,
and they went out of their way to get to know each of us individually.
“ One teacher pulled me aside and said, ‘ You need to go to
college. You have a future.’ ”
Terah got her high school diploma and began to take college
classes at Forsyth Tech, one course per semester, little by little
discovering what her real interests were. She went on to take evening
courses at High Point University. Being in college suited her so well
that she literally couldn’t get enough in night school.
“ I wanted to debate subjects,” she said. “ They have to cram too much
into those few evening hours. I really wanted to go to UNC- Chapel Hill. I
decided to apply to just that one school, and if they didn’t accept me, I would
stay at High Point.”
She was accepted, and she graduated in 2008, planning to go to
graduate school.
“ I took a year off and did a lot of work in the community. Along the way,
a lot of people stepped in to encourage me,” she said. “ I want to do that for
other people.”
During that year, she loaded up her credit cards to apply to 10 highly
competitive graduate programs. At Brown University, she is studying United
States history, with a focus on the social and political upheavals in the South
from the 1950s through the Reagan presidency.
It’s an investment of about $ 300,000 on Brown’s part, she noted,
including annual tuition of approximately $ 50,000 plus living expenses.
Learning that graduate school is often free to the student was a revelation
for Terah. She had assumed it would be beyond her means.
“ As a high school dropout, I always felt the strong possibility of bad
things happening, and all I wanted was the security of knowing I wouldn’t
have to be on the streets. Now I have found my security, and my life is about
bigger stuff than money,” Terah said.
Shortly before heading for Rhode Island and the next chapter in her
life, she took time to express her gratitude to the people who believed
in her and helped her become the first person in her family to go to
college.
“ Forsyth Tech gave me a reason to believe, a reason to hope,”
she said. “ People there told me I was worth something and could
accomplish something. That planted a seed. That laid a foundation
in my mind about what I could become.”
Cover Story
> Emerging Technologies Building, which will be
located in Winston- Salem’s Piedmont Triad
Research Park, is under design by a local
architectural firm and is expected to be
complete by 2013.
> Transportation Technology Center on Patterson
Avenue will become home to Forsyth Tech’s
autobody repair, auto systems technology,
race car technology, heavy equipment and
transport technology, and recreational
vehicle maintenance and technology
programs, once the renovation of the
Pinebrook Shopping Center is completed
in the fall of 2011. Purchased in 2008, this
115,000- square- foot facility will provide
classroom and shop space outfitted with
auto lifts, paint booths and other
technical equipment.
> Career Center Renovation, made possible by
the passage of the 2008 bond referendum,
will add over 300,000 square feet of much
needed classroom space to Forsyth Tech’s
overcrowded and landlocked Main Campus
when it opens in 2013.
> Danbury is being considered as a possible
location for a new Forsyth Tech campus
designed to meet the growing needs of
residents in Stokes County.
on the
horizon
14 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
Forsyth Tech’s Corporate and Continuing
Education ( CCE) division keeps its finger on the
pulse of the workforce and job training needs
of the local community. CCE’s flexibility and
responsiveness is unmatched, thanks to the many
partnerships it has formed with organizations
throughout Forsyth and Stokes counties that
enable needed training programs to be offered
where and when they are needed. Partnerships
with the following organizations help extend
Forsyth Tech’s reach throughout our community:
> Sertoma 4- H Center, located in Westfield in
Stokes County, opened its doors in the
summer of 2009 to Forsyth Tech job
training programs, including carpentry
and welding.
> Regional Employment and Advancement Career
Training ( REACT) Center opened in the
summer of 2009 in the same facility that
houses the state Employment Security
Commission in Winston- Salem. REACT
will provide another level of employment
assistance and job training to area workers,
including the JobsNOW initiative that is
being administered by Forsyth Tech.
> Goodwill Industries on University Parkway
in Winston- Salem provides another satellite
training site for Forsyth Tech, where
individuals can receive job training to
become a data entry specialist, banquet
server, HVAC service technician or
pharmacy assistant.
> Small Business Center, located at the
Winston- Salem Chamber of Commerce
Building, provides free one- on- one
confidential business counseling services
for new and existing businesses to
support small- business development
in our area.
> International Center at the 5th Street Library
in downtown Winston- Salem supports the
unique needs of the local international
community and Forsyth Tech students
through education, guidance
and mediation.
other
locations
2009 Report to the Community
16 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
GROWTH
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 17
One foot in the future is
where Forsyth Tech always
likes to be positioned, and
the past year abundantly
showed this inclination to
be forward looking, forward
thinking, prepared to leap
to the next level.
2009 Report to the Community
times
Signs
o f t h e
and a challenge to prepare for. Since Forsyth Tech is entirely a commuter
college the challenge was not just to accommodate
students in seats, but cars on campus. Before the
2009 fall semester started, the college was prepared
to handle the overflow. All the details had been
worked out to shuttle students to the Main Campus
from a parking lot at nearby Hanes Mall.
ENROLLMENT
A college that puts the emphasis on know- how
should be using state- of- the- art technology in its own Internet
presence, and that was achieved this past year. We launched a
brand- new, user- friendly website, which includes a searchable
course catalog. Adhering to a “ best practice,” we tested this site
with people of all ages and many walks of life – the diversity of
individuals who would be interested in Forsyth Tech’s offerings
– before it went live. At the same time, we launched an intranet,
whereby students, faculty and staff can easily communicate with
each other. Keep up with the news at www. forsythtech. edu.
was the biggest trend,
2009 Report to the Community 2009 Report to the Community
18 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 19
Our People O
Do Us Proud
Keana Walker, a Therapeutic
Massage student, was Co- op Student
of the Year for her work with Hospice
Home of High Point. Her work helped
introduce therapeutic massage as an
effective complementary therapy, and
benefited patients, staff and caregivers.
Longtime faculty member
Alice Sineath, Chair of the
Department of Accounting and
Business Administration, received
the Excellence in Teaching Award.
Kayla Hall and Linda Burnette
were first- and second- place winners
in a partnership between Forsyth Tech
and Truliant Federal Credit Union. The
students were challenged to create an
innovative product or service for the
credit union, and were awarded cash
prizes for their ideas.
Cheri Silverman, Coordinator of
Program Development and Audit in
the Instructional Services Division,
was named Staff Member of the Year.
Teresa Ketner ( see feature story
page 6) received the Distinguished
Alumni Award.
Pauline Morris was honored with the
Hanesbrands Hispanic Leadership award
by the Hispanic League of the Piedmont
Triad. Pauline is the Coordinator of
Community and Workplace ESL in
the Adult Literacy Department.
Sherri Bowen, Executive Assistant
to the President, was reelected to the
ACCT Professional Board Staff Network
Executive Committee.
Alston Pearson, a student in the
Race Car Technology program, was
awarded a $ 1,000 scholarship
established by the family of Brian Pack
in memory of the 34- year- old Bowman
Gray track driver who died in a
motorcycle accident in 2008.
Dr. Gary M. Green was named by
The Business Journal as one of the Pied-mont
Triad’s most influential
people of the year.
This document was paid for and produced by The Foundation of Forsyth Tech, a 501( c)( 3) not- for- profit corporation. No taxpayer funds have been used.
By voting “ YES” for the Educational Facilities
Bonds on Nov. 4, Forsyth County residents have
insured that Forsyth Tech will be able to add
the classroom, shop and laboratory space we will
need in coming years to meet the demands of
our students. The success of the referendum
indicates the value the people of Forsyth County
place upon their community college, and
we sincerely thank you for all your support.
And once again
Forsyth Tech’s recruiting
materials caught the notice of
people well beyond the college’s
two- county footprint. Our 2008
recruitment campaign, includ-ing
billboards, radio and TV
spots, viewbook, and Kaleido-scope,
which was mailed to
all households in Forsyth and
Stokes counties, all came in for
national honors. They made the
cut at both the National Council
for Marketing and Public Rela-tions
and The Communicator
Awards program. All of these
communications were developed
in collaboration with The Bloom
Agency of Winston- Salem.
Public understanding and
supp ort of Forsyth Tech’s need
to grow – even though it would
entail a sma ll tax increas e –
was amp ly confirmed in the
November 2008 election. Th e
educational bond referendum
tha t will enable the college to
take over the property tha t
now houses the public schools’
administrative offices and Career
Center pas ed by a ma rgin of
close to 2: 1. Almost 100,000
voters said yes to the bonds.
From President Obama
to Forsyth Tech graduation speaker State Senator Linda Garrou,
ur Division of Corporate and Continuing
Education responded to the increased
demand for short- term skills training
courses with several initiatives at a range
of locations. One was “ 12 in 6,” a group of
workforce development programs in
12 different career paths, designed
to be completed in six months or
less. Courses are offered in Auto
Body Repair, Carpentry, Electri-cian
Helper, Electrician Lineman,
HVAC Service Tech, Masonry,
Plumbing Helper, Welding, Med-ical
Billing, Medical Terminology
and Coding, Medical Unit Secre-tary,
Nursing Assistant, Phlebotomy
and Pharmacy Assistant. New cert-ification
programs in Administrative
Assistant, Culinary Arts and Advance Manufacturing were
also added.
the enormous need for post- secondary education was
sounded throughout the land. Sen. Garrou praised the
North Carolina Community College
System as one of the best work- training
programs in America and said she
regarded Forsyth Tech as the finest
school in the system. At the commence-ment
exercises on May 7, she said,
“ Now, more than ever, our economy
relies on the specialized programs our community
colleges offer… And now that our state and our country
are facing such challenging times, we can all agree that
if you have specialized skills, your chances for success
are much better.” About 1,000 students received assoc-iate’s
degrees, diplomas and certificates in May.
he college and its
leadership garnered
national attention this year
too. Forsyth Tech was
community colleges
nationally to be selected
to receive a Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation
Grant through the
National Association of
Manufacturers. The grant
will enable Forsyth Tech
to develop a program for
certifying job skills in the
manufacturing arena.
President Gary M. Green
was chosen to serve on
the Educational Council
of the Manufacturing
Institute. He was one of
25 educators from across
the country selected to
help the Institute develop
initiatives to close the skills
gap that is developing as
Baby Boom generation
workers retire, to help
young people and career
changers find careers in
manufacturing, and to
assure that U. S. manufac-turers
can lead the world
in innovation, productivity
and excellence.
As we go to press, we’re looking ahead to
the next school year, when Forsyth Tech will
celebrate a half century of service to the com-munity.
As much as anything, our history is the
story of the changing economy of this region,
and an ever- evolving vision of the future. And
we’re positioned to make that a grand yearlong
series of observances with a task force that is
already at work, and a special 50th anniversary
logo already designed and adopted.
2009 Report to the Community
20 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
has been the naming of programs of study
for heroes associated with those particular
specialties. So now we have the Richard
Childress Race Car Technology program,
the Paul M. Wiles School of Nursing
and the Len B. Preslar, Jr. School of
Allied Health. These are three of our most
distinguished programs, as well as being
among the degree programs that are
always in high demand among students.
It’s a pleasure to have the names of three
individuals who have long been recognized
for their outstanding contributions to their
respective fields associated with three flag-ship
programs: Richard Childress for his
legendary performance in NASCAR, Paul
Wiles for his leadership at Novant Health
and Len Preslar for his visionary guidance
of the growth of Baptist Hospital.
T something
new
for
Forsyth
Tech
this year
of
Total Budgets Dollar Amount
Revenues 55,265,585
Capital 10,120,655
Total Budgets 65,386,240
Forsyth Tech Community College
Revenues & Expenditures
For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009
63%
13%
12%
12%
44%
10%
16%
30%
Revenues Dollar Amount %
State 34,717,985 63%
Tuition 6,685,873 12%
County 6,738,045 12%
Other 7,123,682 13%
Total Operating Revenues 55,265,585 100%
Expenses Dollar Amount %
Instruction 26,591,352 44%
Instructional Support 17,891,732 30%
Physical Plant 9,318,158 16%
Student Services 6,155,277 10%
Total Operating Expenses 59,956,520 100%
2009 Report to the Community
Forsyth Tech Foundation
Revenues & Expenditures
For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009
16%
84%
1%
45%
24%
Revenues
and Other Sources Dollar Amount %
Contributions 1,076,675 84%
Interest Income 197,938 16%
Total Revenues 1,274,612 100%
Expenses Dollar Amount %
Scholarships/ Contributions
to Forsyth Tech 573,312 30%
Supporting Services 856,683 45%
Loss on Investments 461,549 24%
Other Expenses 27,333 1%
Total Expenses 1,918,832 100%
30%
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 21
Forsyth Technical Community
College Board of Trustees
2008- 2009 Membership Roster
Beaufort O. Bailey
Ann Bennett- Phillips
J. Donald deBethizy, Ph. D.
Joyce E. Glass
Gordon B. Hughes
Robert F. Joyce
Andrea D. Kepple
Jeffrey R. McFadden, Chair
R. Alan Proctor
Dewitt E. Rhoades
Kenneth M. Sadler, DDS
Edwin L. Welch, Jr., Vice Chair
Marysue Antonucci,
Ex Officio Member, SGA President
The Foundation of Forsyth Tech
Board Members 2009- 2010
Thomas E. Ingram, President
Haywood Edmundson V, Vice President
Gary M. Green, Ed. D., Secretary
Kenneth W. Jarvis, Treasurer
Kerry L. Avant
David P. Barksdale
Penni P. Bradshaw
Jeffrey P. Brennan
Jeffrey T. Clark
Nancy W. Dunn
Andrew J. Filipowski
Beverly Godfrey
Murray Greason
Paul H. Hammes
David C. Hinton
Gordon B. Hughes
W. Colon Moore
James R. Nanton
Ched W. Neal
Christoph Nostitz
Mehran Ravanpay
Dewitt E. Rhoades
Travis Simpson
William W. Sutton
Robert C. Vaughn, Jr.
Ramon Velez, M. D.
Edwin L. Welch, Jr.
Victor I. Flow, Jr., Director Emeritus
Paul Wiles, Director Emeritus
Sharon B. Covitz, Ph. D., Executive Director
Community Support
S
22 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
So, when Forsyth Technical Community
College decided to start a program to train dental
hygienists and dental assistants, it looked outside
its campus, as it often does, for a partner.
The school would need a dental practice
with space for more than 40 students, chairs for
patients, X- ray machines and equipment for
sterilizing instruments. In other words, the school
needed a partner larger than the average dental
practice, and, as importantly, it needed a partner
interested in helping the community college and
its students. It found that partner on its board of
trustees in Dr. Ken Sadler, a board member since
1992 and the managing partner at Winston-
Salem Dental Care.
“ Someone asked if we would be willing to
host the program in its early years,” Dr. Sadler
said recently.
And the answer was easy.
“ We’ve got a big place.”
Forsyth Tech recruited dental faculty who
could oversee the students’ work. The school also
recruited patients, mostly those without insurance
who appreciated the sliding fee scale and didn’t
mind having students clean their teeth. Winston-
Salem Dental Care provided the rest – exam
rooms, X- ray equipment and equipment
for sterilizing instruments.
“ It was just something we could do,” Dr.
Sadler said. “ We saw it as being good corporate
citizens.”
The program opened in the fall of 2002 with
20 dental assistant students. In 2003, 12 Dental
Hygiene students were added. “ We would not
have been able to start our programs when we
did if Dr. Sadler and his practice had not loaned
us the space,” said Dr. Jannette Whisenhunt, the
Department Chair of Dental Education.
Dr. Sadler had moved to Winston- Salem in
1978 after three years as an Army dentist to take
a job at Winston- Salem Dental Care just as the
practice was getting started. In those days, the R. J.
Reynolds Tobacco Co. owned the practice as part of
its HMO. Sadler and the other dentists in the practice
have owned it since 2000.
Recruiting dental hygienists was always a
challenge. The nearest training program was at
Guilford Tech, and most of those graduates found
jobs in Greensboro and other communities in
Guilford County.
It was clear to Dr. Sadler and other dentists
in town that a local degree program was needed.
The Forsyth Dental Society raised $ 150,000 to help
get the program started, with thanks going to Drs.
Chandler and Rickabaugh. When the school asked
for help, Dr. Sadler didn’t hesitate.
“ To be honest with you, this place is so big and
there’s so much stuff going on another 30 people
wouldn’t be noticed,” Sadler said.
Forsyth Tech only expected to need the bor-rowed
space for the first two years while it renovated
the old bookstore on campus for a clinic. But
construction took longer than expected, and what
began as a two- year agreement lasted for four years.
“ They were very generous in letting us stay
twice as long as we originally planned,”
Dr. Whisenhunt said.
Altogether, about 180 students trained at
Winston- Salem Dental Care. Today, the program
operates on campus in a clinic with space for 45 stu-dents.
Fourteen dental hygiene students enroll now
each year and spend two years earning an associate
degree. The school also trains 20 dental assistant
students each year, and they earn a diploma degree.
Dental assistants are trained to work with dentists,
taking x- rays, assisting the dentist with fillings and
other work.
Sadler said that the dental program relied on
a community partner, much like other programs
Forsyth Tech sets up to train and retrain workers
for the local employers.
“ It’s a pretty agile institution,” he said.
Especially with the right partner.
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 23
etting up a dental clinic can cost more than $ 1 million
– no small feat for a community college.
BDana& rrow Helen
Why I Support Forsyth Tech
Maybe it was the house his carpentry class built out on Shallowford Road, the
one with a sod roof. Or maybe it was his teacher, a man named Odell Grose, and
the chance to use his hands and work outdoors.
Whatever it was, Brad Barrow found his calling at Forsyth Technical
Community College, and now, some 20 years later, his parents are giving thanks
by endowing a scholarship in their son’s name for students in carpentry, plumbing
and other building trades.
“ Brad found his niche is what I would say,” said Helen Barrow. “ He looks
at something, and he visualizes the whole project.”
Helen, a retired elementary school teacher, and Dan Barrow both graduated
from Guilford College and have always valued education. When their daughter
graduated with an MBA from Wake Forest University, they decided to endow a
scholarship there. And then they thought back to how much Forsyth Tech had
meant to their son. Why not start a scholarship there, too, they thought?
“ You don’t hear that much about people establishing scholarships at community
colleges, but I think that’s where a good majority of young people are going,” said
Dan Barrow. “ I just felt that someone needed to support the community colleges.”
Dan Barrow is retired from ExxonMobil Corp., which matched the couple’s
gifts over three years to the Foundation of Forsyth Tech for a total endowment for
the Brad Barrow Scholarship of $ 50,000. The scholarships can be used to pay for
tuition, which runs between $ 1,600 and $ 2,000 for courses in the building trades,
and books. The Barrows know that even that modest tuition keeps many students
from pursuing their dreams.
“ I just don’t think the general public
is as much aware of the needs of the
community colleges as they are of the
needs of the four- year colleges,” Dan Barrow said.
Brad Barrow graduated from West Forsyth High School, where he was senior
class president, and he always loved music, tennis and the outdoors. He enrolled at
Guilford College but after two years realized a life spent indoors with books was not
for him. He studied carpentry and plumbing at Forsyth Tech, and now owns Brad
Barrow Plumbing and General Contracting in Lewisville.
His parents think Brad inherited a gift for building and design from his
grandfather, a noted landscape architect. Forsyth Tech nurtured that talent
in their son, and they hope their gift nurtures others.
Your Gift Creates a Strong College and a Strong Community How You Can
Support Forsyth Tech
Choose your level of support:
Give online: Use your credit card to make a secure donation
at www. forsythtech. edu/ support/ giving- to- forsyth- tech.
Send a check: Make your check payable to Forsyth Tech Foundation. Mail to The
Foundation of Forsyth Tech, 2100 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston- Salem, NC 27103- 5197.
Get more information: Learn about gifts you can make in honor of or in memory
of individuals, matching gifts, charitable trusts and bequests, and gifts of stocks and
property. Call Dr. Sharon B. Covitz, Executive Director, The Foundation of Forsyth Tech,
336.734.7520 or email scovitz@ forsythtech. edu.
Forsyth Technical Community College serves more than 50,000 students
annually in degree, diploma and certificate programs, and continuing education
courses. To make educational opportunities widely available, and to meet the
needs for a well- educated, skilled workforce, Forsyth Tech depends on private
contributions from people like you.
The Foundation of Forsyth Tech, a nonprofit organization, is the fundraising arm
of the College. Your gift to Forsyth Tech through the Foundation will support:
> Scholarships for deserving students
> Technology for classrooms, labs and shops
> Professional development grants for faculty and staff
President’s Club $ 10,000 and up
Pinnacle Club $ 5,000 - $ 9,999
Pacesetter’s Club $ 1,000 - $ 4,999
Directors $ 500 - $ 999
Leaders $ 250 - $ 499
Champions $ 100 - $ 249
Friends Up to $ 99
Greene Hall Expansion Greene Hall Expansion
Bob Greene Hall with
the names of its two
schools unveiled.
Jeffrey McFadden, Chair
of the Forsyth Tech Board
of Trustees, gave credit
to Len Preslar and Paul
Wiles for the exceptional
growth of the Allied Health
and Nursing programs.
“ Because of their leader-ship
and vision,” he said,
“ we have one of the
largest health technology
programs among all the
community colleges in
this state, and we can
be proud of that.”
a vision realized,
two visionary hospital administrators recognized
Who better to honor than two community leaders who guided the support for the building and the expansion of Bob Greene Hall?
The Paul M. Wiles School of Nursing was named for Mr. Wiles ( left), CEO of Novant Health since 1997, and former CEO of Carolina
Medicorp and Forsyth Memorial Hospital. The Len B. Preslar, Jr. School of Allied Health recognizes Mr. Preslar ( right), the recently
retired chief executive of N. C. Baptist Hospital, where he served for 38 years. He is now executive director of the Health Management
Program at Wake Forest University Schools of Business.
President Gary M. Green ( left), pictured here with
Paul Wiles, Len Preslar, former Forsyth Tech President
Bob Greene, and Jeffrey McFadden, noted that Bob
Greene Hall, which opened in 1991, was the result of
a collaboration between N. C. Baptist Hospital, Forsyth
Medical Center, Forsyth County and Forsyth Tech. The
two hospitals have also provided funding for hiring new
faculty and for professional development training.
Healthcare students
will prepare for their
careers in state- of- the- art
classrooms and labs
in the new addition. Paul
Wiles paid tribute to
nurses at the ceremony.
“ I believe nurses go each
day and represent the
finest of the human spirit,��
he said. “ Lives have been
saved because of the ex-cellent
training at Forsyth
Tech,” said Len Preslar.
A big pair of scissors for the ribbon- cutting that marked a major expan-sion
– the addition of 20,000 square feet to Bob Greene Hall, home
of the Nursing and Allied Health programs on the Main Campus. The
official opening on Sept. 24 included a naming ceremony.
Winston- Salem Mayor Allen Joines said,
“ This expansion is welcome news to us
here in the city of Winston- Salem as we
are rebuilding our economy.” Noting the
importance of the medical, biomedical and
biotech industries to the local economy he
said, “ Forsyth Tech plays an extraordinary
role in the rebuilding of our community.
I tout it every day when we’re talking to
potential clients or existing clients.”
24 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 25
Who Works Here
26 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 27
D
And it wasn’t until she was a grandmother
that Marysue got serious about her art and
decided to pursue the academic credentials
associated with being a professional artist. By then
the world was giving her some encouragement.
She sold a portrait of three children that she had
drawn. Her teacher at a summer session at Penland
School of Crafts singled her out as the best student
in the class, and gave her not only an A+ grade but
one of his signed works.
It took three years for Marysue to arrange
her life so that she could start on her path to a
bachelor’s degree in fine arts without too much
stress. That path starts with earning an associate’s
degree in arts and sciences from Forsyth Tech. To
contain expenses and to help her family, Marysue
stays with one of her daughters and three of her
grandchildren.
“ All of us are students,” she said. Her daughter
works two jobs and plans to attend graduate school
in the spring. Her other daughter attends Wayne
Community College in Goldsboro, N. C. Marysue
helps with the grandchildren when they come
home from school and attends Forsyth Tech.
And everyone pitches in on the housework.
Starting college in midlife was scary for
Marysue. “ I remember how out of place I felt at
the beginning. It had been so long, I wasn’t sure
I could do it,” she said.
But she found plenty of support at
Forsyth Tech, and it soon became evident that
her academic abilities were well up to the
challenge. Now, working in painting, drawing
and photography, she feels she is on her way to
being what she is meant to be.
“ I never would have dreamed that this
would be my destiny,” she said. “ I gave up
everything to do this, even my car. I live very
frugally. The talent I have is God- given, and
I realized I can do this.”
r. Lucas D. Shallua
isn’t just an instructor in
and Chairman of the
Biotechnology Department
at Forsyth Tech, he’s also
the person who brought it
to life.
Originally hired in the Life Sciences Department
in 2002, Dr. Shallua soon found himself in a
different role. “ When there was a need to develop
and establish a biotechnology curriculum, I was
asked to take that task,” he recalls. “ That’s what
made me move from teaching general life
sciences to biotechnology- related courses.”
Since that time, he’s seen the program go
through some major growth spurts. “ We started
with five students,” he says, “ and then it grew
to 16, then 35, then 70, and then it went up to
144 students. We were basically doubling every
semester.” Now, while the biotechnology industry
in this area is still growing, the program has
leveled off at 70 to 80 students, and that’s just how
he likes it. “ We purposely want it to be between 70
and 80 students,” he says, “ spread between first
and second year, so that once they graduate they
will be able to be absorbed locally.”
To Dr. Shallua, being able to provide jobs
for his graduates is important, and so is produc-ing
graduates who can do those jobs. “ We are very
proud that employers tell us our students are both
mature and easily trainable,” he says. He adds
that employers often use the term “ plug and play”
to describe Forsyth Tech graduates, meaning they
come into the workforce with the skills they need.
“ If it takes six months to train a four- year college
student, it will take two to three weeks to train our
student,” he says. “ We’ve heard that from many,
many biotech companies where we have placed
our students.”
He understands that the program is demand-driven,
and says it’s a chicken- or- the- egg scenario.
“ Do we create a skilled workforce pool that
attracts the companies, or should the companies
come and attract more students to create a skilled
labor force? We have to balance the two.”
Meanwhile, he says, it’s important to keep
the program responsive to the current needs of
the employers. “ A company says, for instance,
‘ We want to relocate, and we need Forsyth Tech
to give us graduates who are trained in tissue
engineering.’ We should be able to do exactly
that. That is our goal – to have the ability to meet
the demands in the market.”
Of course, that’s Dr. Lucas Shallua the
Chairman of the Biotechnology Department
talking, thinking in terms of the “ big picture.”
For Dr. Lucas Shallua the Biotechnology instructor,
the rewards are a little more personal. “ Seeing
students go from being in textiles or manufactur-ing
to getting a highly skilled job in science, that
is a joy for me,” he says. “ Somebody comes in and
tells you, ‘ I’m an English major.’ Then after two
years, he’s talking of cutting- edge research science,
working at Wake Forest Medical School with
technologies and equipment that most people,
even seasoned scientists, are not working on.
That is very fulfilling.”
“ I speak at universities about the
biotechnology training in America,” he
explains, “ and what training third world
countries can adopt from a first world
country like the United States. I talk
about alternative training that can be
cost effective, such as online training
and distance education, the way to
establish new curriculums that are
demand driven, and things like that.”
These presentations have also led
him to dabble in the hospitality industry.
“ I’m building a resort in Tanzania,” he
says, but adds that it’s not primarily for
tourists – it’s for educators. “ It will cater
to those who want to come as visiting
professors and researchers in Tanzania.
They can have a place to stay, and they
can tour the area.” Whether on the
campus of Forsyth Tech or on a campus
8,000 miles away, Dr. Shallua is always
looking for new ways to spread the word
about biotechnology.
Viral Marketing
Originally from Tanzania, each summer
Dr. Shallua travels back to East Africa,
as well as to Europe, to teach others
about teaching biotechnology.
Marysue Antonucci is
President of the Student
Government Association
at Forsyth Tech.
“ I’ve always helped people. It’s
just something I do,” she said. “ I figured
I might as well run for president since I
was already doing it.”
Besides the community service
and social aspects of involvement in
student government, Marysue says
being president involves critical thinking,
problem solving and team skills – all
valuable in the “ real world” and all
abilities that a mature student can
bring to the position.
Another thing a mature student can
offer is some good advice. “ Younger
students often think that their time will
come when they leave school. They don’t
realize that this is their life,” she said.
“ Students need to communicate with their
teachers and fight for what they want. I tell
them it may be rocky, but don’t give up.”
What inspired a grandmother of six with a
busy life and a commute from Pilot Mountain
to take on this added responsibility?
L ike many gifted people,
Marysue Antonucci grew
up not realizing that she
was an artist. She always
liked to draw and write
poems, but it wasn’t until
she was an adult and a
mother that she took a
couple of art classes,
a watercolor class in
Oklahoma, then later,
an oil painting class at
an art supply store in
Greenville, SC.
“ I fell in love with paintbrushes,” she said.
“ I could sit and paint for eight hours at a time.
It’s a wonderful feeling.”
Chairman,
Biotechnology Department
Student,
President of Student Government Association
Who Goes Here
Feature Story
28 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 29
Lifelong Compensatory Education has long been available for those
with learning difficulties, offering a chance to develop reading, oral
communication, employability and life skills. But Paul thought the program
could do more. “ The curriculum was very fixed,” he recalls. “ We’d bring
them into the classroom and every day we’d talk about, ‘ Is the shirt this size?
Is the iron turned on or turned off?’ And after years and years of that, it’s still
meaningful, but it wasn’t fresh. That’s what got us to step out of bounds a little
bit and start looking at ways to expand the arts- based education.” He saw it as
a way to expand their sense of accomplishment, their sense of pride and their
sense of fitting into the mainstream, he says.
He asked the Forsyth Tech Foundation for a grant and was given $ 1,000.
That got them off to a good start. He then had the idea of having some of the
students perform the song “ I Believe I Can Fly” at the Stokes Stomp, an annual music festival
held in Stokes County. He asked Kris if she thought they could do it, and Kris said yes. Then she
made it happen. “ I give Kris a huge amount of credit,” Paul says, adding that her enthusiasm
and effort are what really drive the program.
The students performed for the first time at the Stokes Stomp in 2006
as The Stokes Opportunity Singers. And that was just the beginning.
Thanks to two $ 10,000 grants from the Lemma M. Apple & Ben R. Apple
Foundation, and the Foundation’s director, Ben Vernon, Paul and Kris have been
able to greatly expand the program since that time. There are now three areas
of focus: the performing arts, the visual arts and arts- based educational trips.
The performing arts area has grown the most. In addition to the Stokes
Opportunity Singers – or The Star Catchers, as the students recently renamed
themselves – the program also has a drumming ensemble and a handbell
choir. But the students do more than make music. A performing arts ensemble,
The SCAMPS, puts on a theater show featuring classic songs and folk tales.
These groups have performed across the state at schools, senior centers, patriotic
celebrations and festivals of all kinds, including one show for over 900 people at
the Adult Basic Skills Conference in Raleigh where, as Paul says,
In the area of the visual arts, the program has used the Apple Foundation grants to buy supplies
and bring in professional artists for lessons in painting, pottery, jewelry making and so on.
The students have had their work shown at the Stokes County Arts Council gallery, and Paul is
currently talking with the city of Walnut Cove about doing a mural on the side of a building in
the town.
The students have also been able to go on many educational trips. In some cases, they
have gone as performers, while in other cases they have gone to see performances, such as their
annual trip to the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival in High Point. But their trips haven’t
There are amazing things
happening at an out- of- the-way
building in Walnut Cove
called The Stokes Opportunity
Center. Hidden talents are
being discovered. New doors
are being opened. And a group
of people who could easily
be overlooked are being
recognized for the unique gifts
they can give the world through
performance and the arts.
Meet
The Star
Catchers
“ They brought the house down.”
T he people are members of the Forsyth Tech Compensatory Education classes that are held
at the Center three days a week. Through the efforts of Paul Kindley, coordinator of Forsyth
Tech’s Stokes County programs, and Kris Jonzcak, the Compensatory Education instructor,
these “ beautifully, uniquely abled” folks ( as Paul and Kris describe them) are finding ways to
express themselves, build self- confidence, develop new skills, see places and things they never
could before and have a whole lot of fun doing it.
Kris Jonzcak
Paul Kindley
Feature Story
~
“ I was here when
Forsyth Tech was first built,”
said Forsyth County Commissioner
Dave Plyler. “ I knew the first
president of Forsyth Tech,
and I know the current
president.”>
Thanks
to the Sponsors
The Title Sponsor of the
event was I. L. Long
Construction Co., and
the Honorary Chair was the company’s
president, Edwin Welch. Rob Welch,
the company’s vice president, was
on hand and talked about how proud
the company was to support the
Foundation and Forsyth Tech.
Other Tournament Sponsors were:
Club Pro Sponsor – Reynolds American
Amateur Sponsors – Cook Medical; Hanesbrands
Caddy Sponsors – AT& T; Flow Automotive Companies;
NewBridge Bank; Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
Lunch Sponsor – Forsyth Medical Center
Breakfast Sponsor – Wake Forest University Baptist
Medical Center
Team Sponsors – Allman Spry Leggett & Crumpler;
BB& T; DataChambers; First Tennessee Corporate Banking;
Forsyth Tech Student Activities Department;
King Chamber/ City of King/ Stokes County;
Magnolia Construction; Winston- Salem Dental Care
Hole Sponsors – Aladdin Travel & Meeting
Planning; Christoph Nostitz; Constangy, Brooks &
Smith; Marshall B Bass & Associates; Southern
Community Bank & Trust; Wachovia Trust Nonprofit
Contest Sponsors – Cannon & Company;
Extend Energy
Snack Sponsor – American Refreshment
& Supplies, LLC
Drink Sponsors – Coca- Cola Bottling Company
Consolidated; Pepsi Bottling Ventures
“ I am a big fan of
Forsyth Tech and
what they’re doing,”
said WXII news anchor
Cameron Kent. “ I think
Forsyth Tech and
the community
college system are the
lynchpins in the area in terms
of economic recovery.”
>
Overheard on the course:
“ Is there a max
to the number
of Mulligans we
can purchase?”>
Ken Reese of First
Tennessee accidentally
broke a teammate’s club.
“ That’s what
happens when a
right- handed man
uses a left- handed
club,” his friend
commented. >
Kelly Vanhoy’s artistic talent surprised even his mother.
been confined to North Carolina. They have also
been able to go to Philadelphia and Washington,
D. C. And Paul and Kris make sure that all the
students get to do some traveling. “ We try to rotate
it around so that everyone who’s capable of
going gets to go on a trip,” Paul says. “ We also
do some other local activities for people with lesser
mobility, like going to the symphony. We try to
mix it up and make sure everyone gets to go to
a lot of different things.”
And what has all this meant for the students?
Gail Davenport, the mother of student Kelly
Vanhoy, explains it this way: “ I like to say that it
opens doors. Not so everybody’s light can shine in,
but it’s opened the door so Kelly’s light can shine
out. I didn’t know Kelly was an artist. Now I do.
He has talents that this program has allowed him
the freedom to express. For him to actually do an
art piece, it astounded me. And if it hadn’t been
for this program, it would never have happened.”
Kris has seen the same thing happen with
other students. In discussing a painting by a
student named James Joyce, she describes how it
opened up a new side of him. “ James is autistic,”
she says, “ and everything he does is very linear,
very exact. But when we did this art show, he was
able to be creative with his art piece and have
some curves in it, and some designs that he had
never done before.”
For Paul, seeing the students become the
center of attention is the best reward, especially
after a live performance. “ At the end of our shows,
we always ask people in the audience to come up for
a hug or a handshake, and the students really are
superstars at that moment. People gather around
the stage, and we have them come down and work
them through a reception line. It’s really amazing.”
That feeling of self- worth is something Kris tries
to impart to all the students. “ I try to find something
for everyone,” she says, “ because everyone cannot
be in the play, and everyone can’t do a painting
like James or Kelly, but even Roland, who is low
functioning, painted a rock and put a sign on it.
So that’s the strength of the program, that everyone
is able to do something and feel successful.”
And, as we said, they have a whole lot of fun
Yes, there are amazing things happening in that
out- of- the- way building in Walnut Cove. Songs are being sung.
Smiles are being created. And every day, in very real ways,
lives are being changed.
30 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
“ It’s wonderful.
It’s wonderful.”
A video about the program called
“ The Star Catchers” is now on
YouTube. To see it, simply go to
www. youtube. com and search for
“ star catchers stokes county.” It only
takes about six minutes to watch, but
it’s something you’ll never forget. And
when you see what these dedicated
Forsyth Tech folks have accomplished,
we think you’ll agree with Kelly’s
mother, Gail, who simply said,
“ It’s wonderful. It’s wonderful.”
doing it. Walk into their classroom on any given
day and you might find the students working on
a mural, singing a song or, very likely, dancing.
“ They love to dance,” Kris says, and they’re pretty
good at it. Whether it’s old favorites like the
hokeypokey or the Cupid shuffle, or something they’re
learning for the first time, you can see the joy on
their faces as they move and groove to the music.”
Yes, there are amazing things happening
in that out- of- the- way building in Walnut Cove.
Songs are being sung. Smiles are being created.
And every day, in very real ways, lives are
being changed.
Painting has allowed James Joyce to express himself in new ways. The hokeypokey is a favorite dance that gets
everybody moving!
Forsyth Tech Foundation
The 10th Annual Forsyth Tech Foundation Golf Tournament was held October 7, 2009, at Bermuda Run West Golf Club near
Clemmons. It was a beautiful day for golf, and the tournament and concurrent online auction raised over $ 38,000 to support the college.
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 31
Feature Story
Ronnie, what is the Irlen Syndrome?
The light reflecting off of white paper is a combination of all colors of
the spectrum. When your brain is interpreting, some of the colors travel
at the wrong speed. That causes the words to move, to rise off the page and
look blurred.
How do the overlays work? It seems so simple.
It is. That’s why it amazes me that it’s not more widespread. When you put
color over the page, everything is getting to the brain at the same time.
How many students at Forsyth Tech are affected?
We prescreen all of the 4,000 GED and Adult High School candidates with
a reading strategies questionnaire. We do a full screening of students who
score high for Irlen on the questionnaire. In 2008, we screened 2,177
and 93 percent needed the overlay. In 2009, it’s 97 percent. In the regular
credit programs, about 15 percent have the syndrome. In the adult literacy
program, it’s about 45 percent. That makes sense. We’re working with
highschool dropouts in that program, and they dropped out for a reason.
Can you show me an example of a student’s test scores before treatment?
This student is college level in math but his reading is at a sixth- grade
level. That’s because in math he’s reading very short sentences. He only
has to stabilize one or two lines. But when he’s doing a whole page, and
the words are moving and jumping off the page, and he has to keep
rereading, he’s putting so much energy into stabilizing – that’s when he
loses the comprehension.
Does treatment help all of your students who have trouble reading?
For some of them, it’s a piece of the puzzle. It’s not the whole story. But for
some, it’s the whole story.
Tell me about some of your success stories.
I had one student who tried for 10 years to get his GED. He worked at Sara
Lee. He was always within a couple of points of passing. After a couple of
years, I asked if we’d ever screened him. Do the words move? ‘ Yes’, he said.
Do they jump off the page? ‘ Yes’, he said. He always said, ‘ if only I had more
time for the test’ – but he never described these symptoms. The next day, he
Take It From Tech
32 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009
Take It From Tech
I
Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 33
Irlen Syndrome
Makes It Hard to Pin
Down the Words
took the test with the overlays, and he finished and passed. He came in
that day knowing he was about to be downsized. There was a supervisor’s
job open, but he needed his GED. I could download his scores right away,
and he got his GED. That afternoon he called me. He got the supervisor’s job.
Any other success stories that stick with you?
I remember one young woman. She had two little kids, and her husband
had died. She was in her 20s. And her family didn’t believe she could do
this, but she wanted to for her husband and her children, and she did.
The Forsyth Tech Foundation provides funding for the overlays and
part- time people to screen your students. Is it worth the cost?
Absolutely. Some of these people would not get a GED without it. Out
of 400 to 500 people getting a GED each year, about a third are using
overlays. If you’re a student who has this, and the words are moving
around on the page, and you’re not making progress, you’re going to
drop out. So, I think it really helps with our retention.
Why is it so important to your students to get treatment for their
reading problems?
A lot of them can’t find a job without a GED, especially in today’s
economy. People who worked at Reynolds and Sara Lee, they worked
there 20, 25 years when you didn’t need a high school diploma, but in
today’s job market, that’s a minimum.
n 2000, Ronnie Valenti, the coordinator
of adult literacy at Forsyth Technical
Community College, began testing
students for a little- known perceptual
disability that makes words dance on
the page. Now, nearly 10 years later, she
believes that diagnosis and treatment for
Irlen Syndrome has helped thousands
of students pass their GED and go on to
pursue college work and successful careers.
The syndrome, often unchecked until students find their way to Ronnie’s
literacy program, interferes with the way the brain interprets black print
against a white page. The treatment is simple – a colorful $ 3 plastic sheet
placed over the printed page corrects the messages received by the brain.
Suddenly the blurred and bouncing letters are still, and the student can read
without distraction. Tech Quarterly spent a morning with Ronnie and her
students. Here’s what we learned.
coursework in auto mechanics and body work in January: “ All it takes is a
simple color to ease the pain. I figure if they
had this back in high school, everything would
have been better.”
Johnny Peak, 34, uses a turquoise overlay as he works toward his GED so that he can start
Ronnie Valenti
It’s clear from the way you work with students that you love your work.
Tell me why it means so much to you.
I would do this as a volunteer. It is so worthwhile to really be
able to help people move on. A lot of students are physically
transformed after they get that GED. I really see a change. I just
think it gives them confidence. I have found if you teach them to
believe in themselves, then it works.
Why isn’t the syndrome more widely known?
In the beginning, there wasn’t a lot of research. But now, there’s
a lot of research to back up the treatment. I see the results, and
I know it works.
You’ve studied the test scores from your students and students at other
community colleges in North Carolina. What have you learned?
The average increase is three grade levels, just by stabilizing what
they see. That’s the thing with these students. It helps them really
move on with their lives.
I understand that you have been busy spreading the word to other
community colleges across the state by speaking at workshops and
conferences.
We were the first community college to do this. Every
opportunity we have, we give presentations at adult literacy
conferences. Now it’s 50 out of 58 colleges that have someone
screening. It’s wonderful.
Can Irlen be diagnosed and treated in school- age children?
Usually you can detect this in third grade. We always ask our
students, do you have children and do your children have
trouble reading? They say that 33 percent of people with ADHD
have it, and 40 percent of people with learning disabilities.
One girl came in, she was failing fourth grade. She needed the
overlays. In fifth grade, she was an honor student, and she did a
science project on Irlen.
Race Car Technology
Students in Richard Childress Race Car
Technology at Forsyth Tech are trained
to work on every type of racing vehicle –
NASCAR, American Le Mans, NHRA, SCCA, P2
and more. Course work includes racing engine
assembly, racing engine preparation, chassis
fabrication, sheet metal fabrication, blueprint
reading, welding, race car setup, record keeping
of race car performance and other topics related
to race car technology.
City and county officials, members of the
Forsyth Tech Board of Trustees, and well over
100 students and faculty attended the
ceremony. The speakers included Board of
Trustees member Joyce Glass, who called the
occasion “ a milestone in Forsyth Tech history.”
Dave Plyler, chairman of the Forsyth County
Board of Commissioners, also spoke, and
praised Mr. Childress’ generosity. “ Richard
Childress doesn’t just take and keep for himself,”
Mr. Plyler said. “ He shares with the community.
That’s why we’re here today.”
In his remarks, Mr. Childress said that he was
honored to be associated with Forsyth Tech.
“ The instructors, many
of whom I have known
for years, bring real- world
knowledge and experience
to the program, which only
makes the students’ expe-rience
that much better.”
In closing, Mr. Childress advised
the students in attendance,
“ Hard work and a dream
will get you where you
want to be, so keep up
with your dreams.”
34 I www. forsythtech. edu I Fall 2009 Fall 2009 I www. forsythtech. edu I 35
n October 27, a ceremony was held to officially
name the Richard Childress Race Car Technology
Program at Forsyth Tech. Mr. Childress, who grew up in
Winston- Salem, is one of the most successful owners in
NASCAR history, having won six Sprint Cup Series
championships with driver Dale Earnhardt, as well as five
championships in the Nationwide Series and one in the
Truck Series. Over the years, Richard Childress Racing has
accumulated nearly 200 victories in NASCAR competition.
Race Car Technology
The Forsyth Tech
Car of Tomorrow
The event also included the unveiling
of the Forsyth Tech Car of Tomorrow,
a NASCAR show car that will feature the
Richard Childress Race Car Technology
logo and be displayed at local
racetracks and other venues.
The car, built from the ground
up by Forsyth Tech students,
was cited by Mr. Childress
as an example of the quality
of the instruction available at
Forsyth Tech. “ If you look at
the workmanship, the kinds of
employees that can put out this
quality of work are what all of
the race teams, not just RCR,
are looking for,” he said. “ You
should be proud of it. I’m proud
to have my name on it.”
Through the Richard Childress
Race Car Technology Program,
Forsyth Tech currently offers
the only Associate of Applied
Science ( AAS) degree in Race
Car Technology available in
the North Carolina Community
College system.